WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 356: Return to the Origin (1)
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1.
The mage, the Staff of Time Immemorial, sighed.
“...I cannot remember how long it has been since I last felt astonishment. Sword Emperor, I cannot see you, and you will not speak to me, but let me at least say that there is a reason you failed to conquer the Zenith of Heaven.”
The mage pressed a hand to her forehead, plainly sick of the situation.
The mage was normally someone who rarely displayed emotion, so such a violent reaction showed how overwhelming the aftereffects of the Sword Heart demonstrated by the Guardian Spirit had been.
"Hmm. What exactly happened…?"
I shook my head, trying to clear it. The aftereffects of transitioning back from the flat world to the original world had not yet dissipated. A wave of nausea clung to my throat.
"What happened? Oh, something monumental."
At my question, the Staff of Time Immemorial frowned.
"The stage almost collapsed."
"Collapsed, you say…?"
“A literal collapse. Some stages are Constellations themselves. When a stage is damaged, the Constellation is wounded to the same extent. But that ghost you carry around... cut straight through the stage itself.”
"Excuse me? Mr. Gong-Ja has a ghost following him around?"
The Apothecary blinked in surprise, hearing this for the first time. However, the Staff of Time Immemorial seemed too irritated to address her confusion.
"Had we left it as is, the wound inflicted by your ghost would have widened, expanding rapidly. The Heaven of Truth would have been cut like paper! While there are several worlds that could substitute for the 75th floor, what a shock it must have been for the souls resting in the Heaven of Truth, akin to a bolt from the blue!"
The mage glared into empty space as though ready to slap the Guardian Spirit if he were there.
"I can't fathom what was going through your mind to do such a thing."
-Not at all. I was merely placing my trust in you.
The Guardian Spirit folded his arms and gave a smug chuckle.
-Even if the world were to crumble, I believed you would do your utmost to prevent it. Yes, you might say I trusted in your goodness. In fact, you should be thanking me for acknowledging your virtue, coming from someone like me.
"What's your ghost saying?"
"Ah."
Kim Gong-Ja, a moment of contemplation in a split second.
"He says he swung the sword thoughtlessly and apologizes."
"At least he knows shame, that's a relief."
The mage nodded.
Watching the mage, did I feel a pang of conscience over my lie...? As if. Not a chance. Think about it. Wouldn't repeating every word of the Guardian Spirit's bullshit and dumping the resulting stress on someone else be the truly shameless thing to do?
"......."
While we conversed, the Apothecary seemed lost in thought. Hearing about the existence of a ghost accompanying me might have plunged her into contemplation, so I inquired.
"What's the matter?"
"Ah, it's nothing, really. Hmm. Just wondering why I was selected as the judge for the 75th floor. It's been bothering me."
Fortunately, her concerns weren't related to the Guardian Spirit.
"By the way, Mr. Gong-Ja. Could you tell me about the judges before me and what their stages were like?"
It wasn't a difficult request, so I explained it to her in detail. Listening to my story, the Apothecary's eyes, even behind thick glasses, darkened noticeably.
"…As I thought."
The Apothecary murmured.
"Mr. Gong-Ja, if I were to die, I'd end up in the Heaven of Truth."
"Excuse me?"
"That's the criterion for the judges, the heaven they would go in the afterlife."
My eyes widened in surprise, while the Apothecary narrowed hers.
"Think about it. The world judged by the Paladin was the Heaven of Music, right?"
"Yes, that's correct, but…"
"The Paladin is, of course, an expert in music. So, it makes sense she was in charge of the Heaven of Music. Yes, but if that's the case, shouldn't I have been summoned to the Heaven of Medicine? After all, my expertise lies in medicine."
The Apothecary spoke in a hushed tone.
"But instead, I was summoned to the Heaven of Truth. Completely unrelated to my field of expertise. I'm certainly not known for [not lying] or having specialized knowledge in [2D planes]."
"......."
"So, who becomes a judge isn't determined by whether they're an expert or not. Absolutely not."
Indeed.
I found myself mimicking the Apothecary's narrowed gaze.
"If the Paladin were to die, she would be reborn in the Heaven of Music. If the Countess were to die, she'd go to the Heaven of Gold. If Viper dies, he'd go to the Heaven of Martial Arts, and if the Heretic Inquisitor dies, he'd end up in the Heaven of Laws. And…"
"Yes, if I were to die, I'd be in the Heaven of Truth."
The Apothecary nodded.
"While you were challenging the stage, Mr. Gong-Ja, I pondered what afterlife I'd desire if I were to die and reach the other side. It was hard to imagine, but… Hmm. I concluded I'd want to be in a world where [I wouldn't have to worry about what others truly thought]."
"…I see."
"Yes, that's what I thought. Therefore, the Heaven of Truth is the afterlife I desire."
I shifted my gaze. The Apothecary also looked in the direction I turned.
There, the Staff of Time Immemorial was silently enduring our stares.
"Is that true?"
"…Yes. Correct. You've hit the mark."
The mage responded rather refreshingly.
[The Staff of Time Immemorial acknowledges the accuracy of your interrogation.]
[You have unveiled a secret that The Staff of Time Immemorial had concealed.]
The message popped up, confirming it for me. How considerate.
"Originally, I planned to reveal [all the heavens you've experienced so far are such and such] when you reached the 79th floor, to give off a final boss vibe."
The mage looked as though she had lost a cherished hidden toy.
"But you figured it out much sooner than I expected. Ah. There goes the element of surprise."
"…Is the heaven I'd go to after dying also predetermined?"
"Hmm."
The mage smiled enigmatically.
"That's a question I can't recklessly answer. It's not up to me to decide. Anyway, Apothecary, was it? You've done well. You may go now."
When the mage tapped the staff against the floor, the ground beneath the Apothecary's feet rippled like a swamp. Her forced return had begun. The Apothecary flailed as she sank into the floor.
“Ah, wait! M-Mr. Gong-Ja! Keep going! You can do it! I heard that I will forget what happened, but you will remember, so...”
“Yes.”
I smiled and saw the Apothecary off.
"I look forward to the special potions you'll develop next."
Plonk-
In an instant, the Apothecary's figure vanished below the surface. Only a ripple remained where she had disappeared, quickly settling down.
After a moment's delay, the 70th-floor lobby was enveloped in a chilling white hue.
'Only I will remember these stages.'
It wasn't a new realization.
I shrugged and turned to the mage.
"Alright then. Who's the next judge? Anastasia? Sir Marcus? Considering only the top hunters have been summoned so far, the ranking must play a part in the selection criteria."
"More precisely, the judge is chosen among those deeply connected to you."
"Then is it Uburka? Or perhaps, Raviel?"
"Both are deeply connected to you, indeed. But neither desires an afterlife. King of Death."
The mage tapped the ground again with the staff.
"This time, the judge evaluating you might be a bit more troublesome."
Whoosh!
Light blossomed around the tip of the mage's staff. On closer inspection, its shape resembled a lotus. As the neatly arranged petals parted, a human silhouette flickered between the rays of light.
"Uh, What's this?"
Like the previous judges, this newly summoned figure was all too familiar. Among the few people I hoped never to forget even in death, he was one.
And not in a good way.
“A summoning? Is this that summoning thing I've only ever heard about? What kind of bastard with no respect for basic business ethics summons somebody in the middle of a shift and pulls this fucking bullshit? Come on, let me see your face so we can say hello.”
"......."
“Huh? What is this? Are my eyes broken? It looks like the goddamned archetypal scholar himself, so scholarly that even his name is synonymous with one, is standing in front of me. Then again, who else would summon me? I was an idiot. Why? What did you call me for this time? Want me to dance again?”
I muttered the name of the newly summoned judge, covering my forehead with my palm.
"Yoo Soo-Ha..."
"That is my name."
Of all people, why him?
2.
My head throbbed.
He was indeed "deeply connected to me," making him a fitting choice.
"Why are you here…?"
"What? You're asking me? You summoned me."
Yoo Soo-Ha narrowed his eyes, his thin but pronounced brows furrowing elegantly.
"Wait a minute. Hey, I thought my days living in your shadow were over. Can I still be summoned by you? Is this even legal?"
Yoo Soo-Ha had long shed the status of a summoned ghoul from Ghoul Summoning. Through the skill Earth Bone Dragon's Skull I acquired from the Tower Master, he had obtained a new body.
He probably thought the days of being summoned at my whim, possibly to perform something as ludicrous as the Cossack dance, were over. The desperation in his voice as he explained his pitiable situation hinted at his fear of such an outcome.
“You bastard. Stop working me to death. I turned over a new leaf, and I'm trying to live an honest, hardworking life! Can't you see what I'm wearing? This is a café uniform. I was working a shift at the planetarium right before you summoned me. A shift!”
Yoo Soo-Ha seemed to think I had performed the summoning.
Perhaps he feared being ordered to perform another dance. He began to fervently explain his unfortunate circumstances.
“When my shift ends, I have to run over to the Chun-Moon Clan! You shoved me in there as a disciple of the clan master, so do you have any idea how much backbreaking shit I have to endure? If you have any conscience at all...”
"Scared?"
"What?"
"Are you scared I'll make you do something weird?"
"That bastard…"
Yoo Soo-Ha's expression soured.
“Just because you're the second-ranked Hunter, keep the first-ranked Hunter as your personal bodyguard, know every major guild master, and married the most beautiful person in the world, do you take me for water?”
"Yep."
"Damn it."
Yoo Soo-Ha seemed to accept without protest that, under those circumstances, I really could see him as H2O.
"Anyway, I didn't summon you this time."
"Then who did?"
"It's a long story."
I delved into the lengthy explanation.
I explained that I was currently clearing Floors 70 through 79, that doing well myself was not enough to cross this region because I also needed the approval of the selected judge, and that this time, damn it, Yoo Soo-Ha had been chosen.
"......Hmm."
Yoo Soo-Ha crossed his arms.
Before hearing the story, a slight unease fluttered between his brows, but now it had vanished.
His dark eyes, inscrutable, scanned me from head to toe.
"So, to sum up. To move on to the next floor, I absolutely have to approve, right?"
"Correct."
"No matter if it takes ten years or a hundred, I can just sit here and watch you stumble through the stage."
"That's right."
"And the flow of time differs between the stage and here, so if I wish, I can speed through long periods swiftly?"
Yoo Soo-Ha's probing made me feel uneasy, but I couldn't lie when the Staff of Time Immemorial would just explain everything anyway.
"…Yes."
"Figures. I've got my answer."
Yoo Soo-Ha smirked.
It was a devilish smile.
"Let's start with a dance, Gong-Ja."
What?
"Of course, by dance, I mean the one I performed. That dance. The Cognac Dance or whatever... You know it best since you were the one who ordered it. Let's assess your dancing skills first. We can talk about the stage afterward."
Hold on.
"Why? Won't dance? If you don't want to, fine. Let's just start with a hundred years. Even a monster like you would eventually feel like dancing after being stuck on the same stage for a hundred or two hundred years, right?"
Hold on.
“Of course, I have no intention of stopping after one dance. That would be disappointing. Oh, absolutely. You and I have a great many feelings left to settle, don't we, Mr. Kim Gong-Ja?”
You fucking son of a bitch.
Editor Note: The gender of ‘The Staff of Time Immemorial’ has been revealed to be female in the later chapters. We’ll be making changes to the previous chapters shortly as well.
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