Surviving Among the Anomalies - Chapter 21

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

◈ Surviving Among the Anomalies ◈

Chapter 21: A Book for Those Who Want to Transfer to Another World, Part 6: Medieval Fantasy

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I continued checking on the transferees.

[2. Lee Hyeon-woo (25), dead: Formerly an ordinary person. After entering the mercenary trade, they suffered an abrasion from a goblin's rusty sword during their first battle with a monster. They contracted tetanus, suffered seizures caused by high fever and convulsions for seven days, then died of illness.]

[3. Kim Min-jun (19), dead: Formerly a student. After transferring, they met a noble and explained modern knowledge, asking for investment capital. The noble demanded a prototype. They tried to make one using their knowledge, but gave up after repeated failures and were beheaded for insulting a noble and fraud.]

[4. Park Seo-yeon (27), dead: Formerly a university student. They found work as a servant for a noble family and made a living there. After catching the heir's eye, they were offered the position of concubine but refused. The heir took it as an insult and cut them down with a sword.]

All the early transferees had died.

‘Medieval fantasy, huh? As expected, it isn’t easy.’

The ones who had died while trying to use modern knowledge stood out in particular.

[11. Lee Ji-hoon (17), dead: Formerly a student. They attempted to spread modern knowledge and leave their name behind as a great pioneer. The first thing they spread was, “The Earth is not the center of the universe and revolves around the sun.” Charged with blasphemy by the Church, they appeared in court and spoke of various pieces of modern knowledge, but were branded a demon and burned at the stake.]

[22. Choi Ye-eun (23), dead: Formerly a university student. While doing odd jobs on a farm, they taught those around them about the importance of hygiene. They set an example by washing their hands every day, but a wound on their hand became infected by water contaminated with livestock feces, and they died of illness.]

[30. Jeong Do-yun (31), dead: Formerly an office worker. They developed a tool that purified water using sand, gravel, charcoal, and so on. They tried to start a business selling clean water, but were branded a wicked merchant who charged money for water and stoned to death.]

Many had suffered for carelessly spreading knowledge that medieval people would struggle to accept.

‘Still, the survival rate rises the further down the list I go.’

More precisely, many had lived well before dying.

[51. Yoon Su-min (80), dead: Formerly a student. They transferred at the age of sixteen and earned money through odd jobs. Using soap-making knowledge acquired beforehand, they made fragrant soap that became immensely popular among nobles. They gained fame as a soap seller and tried to expand the business, but gave up due to pressure from other merchants. Afterward, they enjoyed a leisurely life, collecting artifacts and hiring mercenaries to travel the world, before passing away from old age at eighty.]

[63. Im Ha-yoon (99), dead: Formerly an office worker. They found employment with a massive trade company by displaying their talent for calculation and bookkeeping. While accumulating funds, they interacted with other merchants and nobles, using their natural friendliness to turn them into allies. They later ran their own trade company, using the connections they had built to operate trade between numerous countries. After establishing an economic and political foundation, they slowly introduced the knowledge acquired before transferring and advanced the world's development. They lived a wealthy and honorable life, passing away from old age at ninety-nine.]

“After seeing the earlier transferees, everyone would have no choice but to learn from them and be careful.”

Humans could improve through learning. It seemed the later transferees had mostly prepared thoroughly after learning what mistakes their predecessors had made and how they had died.

“Some people awakened Mana too.”

The lives of those who won the one-percent chance were all different.

[97. Han Jun-seo (200), dead: Formerly a university student. They awakened Mana after transferring and entered the Mage Tower, where they grew into an excellent mage. They later worked as an adventurer, gained extensive practical experience, and became a high elder of the Mage Tower. By using Mana to stop aging, they retained their youth. They eventually rose to become the Tower Master, trained many disciples, and passed away from old age at two hundred.]

[164. Oh Ji-a (17), dead: Formerly a student. They awakened Mana after transferring and became the disciple of an unnamed mage. While practicing magic, they failed to cast a spell, causing a fireball to explode in front of them. They were killed in the explosion.]

[220. Nam Ha-yul (20), dead: Formerly an ordinary person. They awakened Mana after transferring, but it was a world where Mana would kill the body unless it was released through magic. They desperately tried to learn magic, but died of a heart attack caused by the excessive Mana that had built up beforehand.]

“Even so, they survive better than ordinary people.”

After looking through the records, I found that ordinary people had an extremely high chance of dying no matter how well they prepared. Those who awakened Mana, though, usually had higher survival rates and lived good lives unless that world's Mana system was dangerous, they had an accident, or they died in battle.

“But even that can't overcome luck.”

Compared to the one-percent chance of awakening Mana, the people who won the five-percent chance of landing in a soft, squishy, happy-happy otherworld lived happy lives.

[82. Lee Seo-hwi (???), alive, ★5% Winner★: Formerly a convenience store employee. They transferred to a world where everyone possessed their own Spirit. The Spirit they received after transferring was the Sky Spirit, a Spirit loved by the sky that made them extraordinarily lucky in all things and enhanced their five senses and physical abilities. They were loved by many people and gained widespread fame while enjoying adventures. In their later years, they succeeded in transforming into a Spirit themselves and descended as one of the otherworld's Spirit Gods, an immortal and eternal being.]

[156. Jo Ha-ram (???), alive, ★5% Winner★: Formerly a librarian. They transferred to a world where a war had ended two hundred years ago and Demonkind, humans, and Demi-humans lived peacefully together. While traveling as an adventurer, they discovered an altar in an ancient vampire ruin and activated it by mistake, becoming a True Ancestor and gaining an immortal, eternal life. As a True Ancestor, they could walk beneath the sun and obtain nutrients through ordinary meals, allowing them to continue their previous way of life. Using the uniqueness of immortality and the True Ancestor's perfect memory, they devoted themself to science. After investing several centuries, they finally succeeded in transforming the world into a scientific civilization like Earth. They currently serve as the principal of the World Science Academy.]

[199. Shin Do-won (???), alive, ★5% Winner★: Formerly a university student. She transferred to a peaceful world where the Church's power was strong, lost her body during the transfer, and reincarnated as a young girl. She became a priest, but was selected as a Saintess due to her powerful divine power. When Demonkind invaded, she stood at the forefront and led the war to victory. She rose all the way to the position of Pope, and after her death, the god who praised her efforts personally made her into an angel. She is currently training as a Lesser Deity.]

‘Every single one of them lived happy lives. No, they're still living them.’

I read through the entire list and status reports of the transferees. So far, a total of 1,267 people had gone to another world through this book.

Around seven hundred of them had died horribly.

Around four hundred had lived ordinary lives.

Around one hundred had lived successful lives.

The rest had won the five-percent chance and lived like protagonists in another world.

“It was bait.”

The warning at the beginning that the user wouldn't be a protagonist.

The five-percent chance of falling into a good otherworld.

The display of the transferees' circumstances.

“Were they all meant to stir up people’s desires and make them use the book?”

Maybe I could win the five-percent chance. Maybe I could beat the odds and live like a protagonist. It was a book that played on those thoughts.

[If you have read all of the above and still wish to transfer to another world, please read the following contract.]

[I clearly declare that I will have no regrets about crossing over to another world and that all of this is of my own free will.]

[If you agree to this contract, you will receive the benefit of being able to naturally speak the most common language of the otherworld you transfer to.]

[Do you agree? [Seal] <- Press any finger firmly for three seconds or longer.]

After checking the contract on the final page, I closed the book.

“Normally, I should destroy it.”

Of course, there was a high chance it couldn't be destroyed through ordinary means. Selling it to the Mysterious Merchant, binding it in chains and throwing it into the sea, or locking it in a safe so no one could use it would be best.

“But would that really be right?”

I turned on my computer and searched for otherworlds.

[Ah, I just want to go to another world. I'm sure I'd do really well if I entered a fantasy world!]

[I want to go to another world too. Please send me there.]

[I fucking want to go to another world. I want to make a shitload of money and gain a ton of fame with science cheats, then build a harem.]

[I want to go to another world in the body of a cute girl. I'd act all easygoing, then let some girly behavior slip out sometimes. Everyone around me would practically worship me.]

Most of them were jokes. Since there was no real way to go to another world, they were just talking about fantasies.

“If there really were a way to go to another world.”

If there were people who truly wanted to leave behind everything they had built up and go to another world, then this book might be their only means of escape.

“If every transferee had died, I would've disposed of it without hesitation. But that's not the case.”

The death rate was roughly fifty-five percent. There was a forty-percent chance of living an ordinary or successful life, and a five-percent chance of living like a protagonist.

“I can't take away people's chances.”

At that moment, the wind blowing through the window opened the book.

[Do you agree? [Seal] <- Press any finger firmly for three seconds or longer.]

As if it were asking me whether I wanted to go to another world.

“Sorry, but I like this world better.”

I quietly closed the book.

“So I'll refuse.”

＊＊＊

The Otherworld Transfer Book - Medieval Fantasy- was, by default, an object-type Anomaly. Since it couldn't move on its own until someone used it, I put up an advertisement to give those who wanted to go to another world a chance.

[Are you tired of life in reality? Do you want to become a protagonist? Then contact us here right away. An otherworld for you is waiting.]

It was an internet banner ad, but when I checked after placing it, it didn't appear on my computer at all.

-What? No, it was placed correctly. It should be displaying normally. There are no problems with the system.

I called the person in charge of the banner, but they only told me that everything was fine.

“Then there are two possibilities.”

Either the person in charge of the banner had made a mistake.

Or the Anomaly was involved.

“Was this your doing?”

There was no answer. It was a book, after all. Still, that was what I thought.

“Maybe people who don't genuinely want to go to another world can't see the ad.”

A few days later, I searched online and found people talking about the ad I had placed.

[-Screenshot- What the hell is this ad? It asks if I want to go to another world? When I clicked on it, there was only a phone number and email address.]

└What are you talking about? At least upload a screenshot.

└?? I did. Are your eyes broken?

└You're the broken one.

Some people could see the ad, while others couldn't.

“If I wait, someone will contact me eventually.”

[Um, I saw your banner ad and decided to contact you.]

Two days later, messages arrived.

[Can I really go to another world?]

[Is it true that you can send me to another world?]

[Come on, this is a joke, right? I can't really go, can I?]

There were several people, too. After speaking with them, I found that they were all exhausted by family problems or life itself.

‘As expected, only people who desperately want it can see the ad.’