WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 73: The One Who Gathers Death (2)

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2. Starvation.

What is starvation, really?

“……”

On the seventh day of my fasting.

"Hmm."

The first and second days were the hardest. After three days, the pain seemed to recede. The movement in my intestines slowed down. My thoughts became sluggish. My very life seemed to have diluted.

If a person's life were likened to a river, its flow had diminished. Like a stream in a year of famine, it had dwindled to a shallow trickle.

Drought.

Quietly drying up and vanishing. The stream diminishing and diminishing, until the stream of pain, of thoughts, of life itself, dries up completely.

Is this what [starvation] is?

Is this what the Heavenly Demon wanted from my training?

"…No."

I released my meditative pose and stood up.

"This isn't it."

I muttered softly.

"Just sitting still would be pointless."

I drew my sword. In my mind, I traced the sword paths of the Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven, then swung my blade according to that image. Recklessly.

-What are you doing?

"Exercising."

Winter was cold. I breathed in the cold air. Perhaps due to drinking snow for seven days, my breath seemed as white as snowflakes.

"I was wrong. The [starvation] that the Heavenly Demon spoke of isn’t simply about 'not eating.' It's definitely not about just sitting in meditation and fasting."

As I moved my body for the first time in a week, I quickly became short of breath.

My muscles trembled. My airway constricted harshly.

"Starvation is about 'wanting to eat but being unable to eat.'"

Clumsy swordplay.

But I was sweating. Different from just sitting silently. My body started to come alive. The amount of sweat flowing from my body was probably equal to the amount of life in me.

"During this past week, I thought about a starving farmer."

What is starvation?

"What farmer wouldn't go to the fields just because he's hungry? Regardless of being hungry or not, whether he has eaten or not, he has to work. But there's nothing to eat even while working."

Perhaps that is starvation.

"He swings his hoe. He digs the earth. But due to the famine, due to the hard times, no matter what he does, the land bears no fruit. It's truly fruitless."

I swung my sword.

"Because there is nothing he can do..."

And then I closed my eyes.

The earth.

I visualized the dry, parched earth.

"that's why he's starving."

A farmer struck the parched earth with his hoe. Thud! The soil would crumble like an old cookie breaking apart.

"It's been over half a year since the last rain."

-.......

The reservoirs were empty. The village well had dried up. Not a drop of water in the fields. In the daytime, an old man would sit at the edge of the village. Silently. Even the wrinkled face of the grandfather was dry.

"It's a drought."

The sun was hot.

Some villagers had already given up on farming. They abandoned their fields. Having abandoned their work and workplace, they had less reason to keep their homes. They took their children and left for the coast.

"But this farmer hasn't given up yet."

-Why?

"Because he thinks it won't be different at the sea. Because he doesn't know how to catch fish. People have to live on the thievery they've learned, and the farmer only knows how to steal from the land. His father, his father's father, and his father before him…"

One day.

Two days.

Three days.

The farmer goes to the fields. Without any reward, he goes as if commuting to work. In the evening, he climbs the back mountain and peels what's left of the edible tree bark.

"Now, there's not much bark left."

The villagers had stripped most of it.

Descending the mountain and looking back, the trees on the back mountain were all bare. From afar, it looked like a forest of birch trees.

Starvation turns the world white.

"But."

The farmer swung his hoe at the barren land.

And I swung my sword in the air.

"I can't eat these tree barks."

He has a family.

"It's been over a week since I even tasted the bark."

He has a child.

-So what?

As the hoeing and sword movements continued, the Guardian Spirit asked.

-So what will you do?

"I'll first go to the village well."

He scoops up a small bucket of water from the dried well.

"I'll boil the bark scraps with that water. Add some small leaves... and boil it."

The fresh scent of leaves.

The musty scent of the tree bark mixes with the steam and wafts through the air.

The farmer swallows his saliva.

'I'm hungry.'

I, too, swallow my saliva.

'I want to eat.'

I want to bite and tear the bark.

The tree bark boils. The bark, imbued with the scent of water and leaves, seems sweet. I want to bite and chew it. A rich broth would flow out, tasting of earth. A brownish meal.

Tree bark is edible soil.

'I want to eat.'

But I restrain myself.

'I have to give it to my children... Even this. I have to give it.'

The children whine. They cry.

The bark boiled by their father. The bark he didn't eat and barely brought back, the children dislike it. They throw tantrums. They complain while eating.

They spill it.

‘Ah.’

Unknowingly, the farmer slaps his child's cheek.

Like the farmer swinging his arm, I too swung my sword.

'This isn't it.'

The farmer turns his back on his children.

'This isn't who I am.'

…I'm not someone who hits my children. I’m not that kind of person. It’s just that the famine is so severe. It's been too long since I've had proper food, my nerves are sharpened. I'm overly sensitive. It's too much….

'My life wasn't supposed to be like this.'

The farmer picks up the tree bark.

What is starvation?

Since the world began, there have been numerous famines.

And with each, there have been farmers, farmers, farmers, countless of them.

Countless starvations.

「Fight while feeling hunger.」

Is there a gesture in starvation?

「Every stroke of your sword must emanate from hunger.」

Yes.

There is a gesture in starvation.

「Imagine the voice and groans of a starving person, their arm movements, footsteps, everything.」

That gesture was the farmer slapping his child.

That gesture was the farmer storming out of the house and throwing the tree bark into the yard.

That gesture was the farmer returning to give his children the bark again.

「Embed these in your heart.」

Since the world began, some farmers must have slapped their children, others gently caressed their cheeks and whispered apologies. Some farmers might have beaten their children until they died. Some survived until the next year, while others died with their children.

And so it has been, and so it will be.

「Make it your single-hearted resolve.」

But there was no gesture unassociated with starvation.

「Relying on this resolve.」

「Swing your sword driven only by starvation.」

I swung my sword with the gesture of slapping a child in anger and frustration.

I swung my sword with the gesture of throwing the tree bark to the ground, thus abandoning life.

I swung my sword with the gesture of giving the bark back to the children.

「Only then will the Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven reveal its true power.」

Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven.

The First Form.

Sword of Starving Death.

"......."

I slowly opened my eyes.

The white daylight of the snowy plains had turned into a pitch-black night.

I was drenched in sweat. Only then did I feel hungry, starving. A desperate hunger gnawed at my stomach lining, as if it were a bug with sharp teeth, incessantly nibbling at my insides.

'This is hunger.'

It was painful.

'This is starvation.'

Demonic Technique.

The claws that scrape the world.

On the walls of the cave, marks of clawing were rampant. It looked as though a violent storm had passed through. My sword strikes were clearly etched into the stone walls. Stalactites and stalagmites had been cleanly sliced.

The stone walls and pillars were cut by my blade.

Despite hardly using Aura.

'But... it’s still not enough.'

I had just grazed the edge of the technique.

I felt it distinctly.

The sword forms in my mind. The mental image I had drawn. The sensation, the feel of it, was undoubtedly caught at my fingertips.

That's how I knew.

"I'm still clumsy."

Where my fingertips barely touched.

That place was not the pinnacle, but merely the entrance.

-The madman...

The Guardian Spirit looked at me with an exasperated face.

"Ah, why are you calling me mad again? I'm properly training this time."

-Properly, my ass. Even the men and women who cultivate through sexual arts would be training more properly than you.

The Guardian Spirit sighed heavily.

-This is why ignorance is terrifying. You little bird, you're a madman without equal. Your spirit belongs to the Orthodox Path, but the mental method you're running is from the Demonic Cult. Good grief.

"Uh, I still don’t quite get the martial arts terminology. What’s wrong with that?"

-This uninitiated kid...

The Guardian Spirit muttered.

-How bizarre it is, yet he has no clue. Ah, I’m going crazy.

"Explain it in a way I can understand, will you?"

-Simply put, an expert of the Orthodox Faction is using demonic arts. Want me to be more precise? [He's an orthodox expert who knows nothing but demonic arts.] Zombie, isn't that enough to leave you dumbfounded and stop up your nose?

"Hmm."

I covered my nose with my left hand.

"Seems like it’s blocked?"

-This guy has gone nuts after starving for over a week... No, he was already nuts... What did I do in my past life to end up haunting a lunatic like this...?

The Guardian Spirit lamented.

-Now he's got me worried too. Damn, how am I supposed to teach this guy my martial arts? If I teach him the way I taught old Marcus, we'll be completely fucked. What am I going to do...?

Ah. I'm hungry.

I want a Choco Pie.

A Choco Pie that tastes of chocolate when I bite it, with chewy white marshmallow inside. I wanted to slurp warm milk with noisy little smacks and chew on just one Choco Pie.

What is starvation?

Confucius says: starvation is a Choco Pie.

Delicious and good for the body, Choco Pie-.

-...Hey. Are you daydreaming?

“No? I’m thinking about martial arts.”

-Don’t lie. You’re obviously thinking something stupid.

How does this guy know me so well? Is he a stalker? After all, the Guardian Spirit always follows me around. Translated to English, he would be a Ghost Stalker. Thinking about it that way made me feel a bit upset.

Such an annoying stalker.

"Really. Really really. Did you spend your life being deceived and then die?"

-Then tell me. What were you thinking about martial arts?

The stalker pressed on. Just like a stalker, nagging about trivial matters. Despite being as big as a gorilla. Hurry up and achieve enlightenment, Ghost Gorilla Stalker.

I put on a solemn expression.

"I was thinking of descending the mountain for a bit."

-Descending? Why? Are you finally going to show the Heavenly Demon what you're made of?

"Ah, no."

I waved my hand.

"I've just reached the threshold of the Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven. If I commit suicide now and return to the Heavenly Demon, it wouldn’t achieve much. I'll just get a response like [Hmm, seems like there’s some potential]."

-So? Isn’t it fine to be acknowledged?

"That’s not enough."

I walked out of the cave.

"Do you know how humiliated and hurt I felt when the Heavenly Demon dismissed me for never truly experiencing starvation? I hold grudges. Just being acknowledged won’t heal my wounds."

-This guy is upset...

"I want a reaction of [astonishment]."

The shock on her face.

I want to see the Heavenly Demon in awe of my swordsmanship.

"[Such talent. It overflows. It practically explodes! I failed to recognize that you were my fortuitous encounter. My eyes must have failed me for a moment. Forgive me.]"

Hmm.

Just imagining it feels good.

The Heavenly Demon's face will be as sweet as a Choco Pie.

"What do you think? Nice picture, isn't it? You agree too, Sword Emperor?"

-Such a distasteful lunatic...

I descended the snowy mountain and headed towards the snowy plains.

"While unfolding the Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven, I realized something. Ah, compared to the people of this era, I really haven't experienced true starvation. While imagining a farmer boiling tree bark, I couldn't precisely picture which bark. I didn’t know exactly how to boil the bark."

Because I've never done it.

"The clearer my mental image, the more powerful the technique becomes. The reason why my martial arts are still weak despite having learned the [Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven] skill is simply because my mental imagery is clumsy. So...

I stopped on the snowy field.

"From now on, I'm going to fill in what's lacking in my imagination."

-What will you do? Boil tree bark for real?

"No. There's a much better way."

I smiled.

"Ghoul Reincarnation."

The moonlight shone. The snowy plains were silver.

Suddenly, clouds covered the moon. What was cloud in the sky became shadow on the ground. Little by little. The shadow, like a bug with teeth, bit into the snowy plains.

The moon swallowed by the shadow.

[Activating skill.]

After a while, the clouds cleared.

But the shadow cast on the snow did not disappear. Even in the moonlight, the snow was no longer silver. As if the moon once swallowed could never return, numerous shadows were strewn across the snow.

"My lord."

One of the shadows spoke.

"Did you summon me?"

Preta knelt on one knee. Crunch. The snow compressed beneath her knee with a small sound. Thousands of skeletons stood behind her.

"Hmm."

I nodded.

"Preta. I have a task for you."

"Your command?"

"This world is on the brink of destruction. Humans have become spirits and corpses, wandering aimlessly. Perhaps it's somewhat similar to the Aegim Empire you once destroyed."

"......."

Preta bowed her head a bit more.

"My order is simple. Disperse. Spread out and gather starving corpses."

"Starving corpses… what do you mean…?"

"Yes."

I looked out at the vast snowy night.

"There must be villages and farming communities somewhere around here. Find them. Find the corpses of people who starved to death and bring them here. The corpses can move and will resist, but there are more than four thousand of you. Overwhelm them with numbers."

"How many?"

Preta cautiously asked.

"How many corpses shall we bring?"

"112."

Starvation-traumatized humans. I will learn from their hunger.

Once I learn and master their starvation,

I will finally draw closer to the Heavenly Demon.

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