WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a B-Rank Hunter ◈
Chapter 17
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The Steel Man, tangled in steel cables, yelled furiously at the appearance of the irritating man.
[You fucking bastard! Have you been cowering in some corner this whole time, and now you come out acting tough?]
“Now, now. Calm down. Getting so worked up won’t break those wire ropes.”
[If you don’t want to die, untie me!]
“Ha ha. You can’t possibly mean that sincerely. Those were prepared specifically to kill you. Why would we untie you?”
[You bastard!]
The Steel Man rose and violently pulled the steel net. Those holding its ends cried out as they were dragged slightly forward, then regained their senses and pulled the net in the opposite direction.
Trying to stand, the Steel Man’s feet became tangled, and they lost their balance and fell. Their armor struck the concrete floor with a clatter.
Still lying there, they muttered.
[Those fucking Ohwa lackeys... Corporate bootlicking idiots...]
“That’s funny. Aren’t you with Samgyeong too?”
[Samgyeong is fighting Ohwa, you... idiot...]
The irritating man slowly shook his head as if reason were pointless. Then he abruptly turned to look toward the corner.
Dohyeon was there, quietly trying to leave.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Yang Sunho, an assistant manager with Ohwa’s Business Support TF. And your name?”
“...”
Dohyeon froze mid-step, still bent over.
He didn’t want to answer.
He didn’t particularly want to know what grudge existed between that A-rank tin can and the Ohwa Group, or what was happening in this dungeon because of it. Even at a glance, it was the sort of incident from which he would gain nothing by getting involved.
But when he saw the crossbows aimed at him by the two hunters standing beside the irritating man named Yang Sunho, undoubtedly the same ones that had pierced concrete and steel plates earlier, he knew he could not leave without answering.
So he slowly straightened and spoke.
“I didn’t see anything.”
“Ha ha, sir. I didn’t ask what you saw. I asked your name.”
“My name isn’t important. I’m merely some hunter who came in to pick up Vanaskelium.”
“No, it is important. Thanks to you, we found an opening to subdue this White Knight. The first thing I learned after joining Ohwa was that accomplishments should be rewarded accordingly.”
“I didn’t act expecting that, so there’s no need.”
Perhaps Dohyeon’s response amused him. A smile played around Yang Sunho’s lips.
But his eyes beneath that smile were cold.
Dohyeon looked at that face with dark, sunken eyes, then spoke.
“If you insist on rewarding me, tell me that instead.”
“That?”
“How so many people can enter a dungeon and move together like this.”
Dohyeon gestured vaguely with his chin toward the people surrounding the Steel Man and those around Yang Sunho. Yang Sunho gave a quiet laugh.
“Ha ha. Would information like that truly be enough?”
“I think so.”
“Well, that much should be fine.”
Yang Sunho raised his left hand and displayed the ring on his index finger. It was a thick metal band, and Dohyeon frowned slightly when he saw it.
Dohyeon had possessed a similar ring on the same hand and finger. Or rather, he had possessed one.
Now it was a tattoo.
Vargband.
“It’s an artifact called Forseti’s Trick. With this, there’s no great problem even if three or more people enter together and move as a group. Naturally, it does have limits, but everyone here entered this place at once.”
As though showing off the ring, he wiggled his finger before Dohyeon.
“Remarkably, it uses dungeon materials, but it isn’t an artifact found in a dungeon. It’s a prototype produced by our Ohwa laboratory, proof that conquering this dungeon and Yggdrasil will not be far off. Interesting, isn’t it?”
Dohyeon’s brows gradually drew together at those words.
Yang Sunho saw that and laughed again.
“Ha ha ha. What’s wrong? Does that make you uncomfortable?”
“...”
Dohyeon’s eyes grew darker.
The man had a smiling face and a polite tone, but it was like a child watching a rat in a cage with amusement.
A face certain that the being behind those bars could never hurt him, and that he, in turn, stood above that being like a god.
Considering that irritating bastard’s attitude, the other hunters’ faintly mocking expressions, and the crossbows aimed at him, there was only one conclusion.
They intended to kill Dohyeon too.
“...”
When Dohyeon remained silent, the smile hanging on Yang Sunho’s lips slowly faded as well. The interest lingering in his eyes was quickly cooling.
With his smile gone, he said, “You have remarkable reflexes and agility. Enough to shake off an A-rank hunter’s pursuit. But... you do not appear to be A-rank. May I ask what artifact you are using?”
The moment Yang Sunho mentioned Dohyeon’s artifact, greed flickered in the eyes of not only Yang Sunho but also the other hunters holding the steel net.
They did not even feel the need to hide that emotional shift.
Dohyeon watched them with an expressionless face, then suddenly lifted his eyes into the distance and murmured.
“This is why teams grow more dangerous as they get larger.”
“What did you say?”
At that moment, a powerful pulse that began with a distant thump swept through the entire factory.
The bright lights flickered on and off like waves in time with the pulse.
Yang Sunho looked confused. Some of the hunters holding the steel cables went stiff. They were probably the more experienced hunters.
The hunters beside Yang Sunho holding crossbows wore the same expressions. One whispered quietly to Yang Sunho.
“We need to get out now. There’s no more time to waste.”
“Why? Is some monster coming? Then we can use our White Knight as bait...”
“It’s not a monster. No, if you call it a monster, then it is one, but... We need to leave immediately.”
“What? Explain properly.”
“There’s no time for that...”
Yang Sunho frowned slightly, then nodded.
He turned to Dohyeon.
“Ahem. If time is short, it can’t be helped. Shall we move together? We’ll go to the exit.”
“No.”
“...Excuse me?”
The blunt answer, unlike anything before it, left Yang Sunho blank for a moment.
Dohyeon gave him a faint sneer.
“I have no intention of going with bastards who are full of thoughts of killing me.”
Immediately, a bolt left a crossbow string.
“Ghk!”
One of the Ohwa hunters carrying a large crossbow clutched their abdomen and staggered. A black bolt was embedded in their stomach.
It was Dohyeon’s bolt.
“You!”
The other crossbowman pulled the trigger of the crossbow aimed at Dohyeon the instant they noticed the attack.
With a thwang, a bolt flew through the air.
At that moment, the world slowed, and the bolt looked as large as a building pillar.
Not only was it enormous, it was moving so slowly that he felt he could dodge it even if he did not want to.
So he avoided it with a slight tilt of his head.
He then tried to pull back.
He needed to widen the distance and hide behind an obstacle to avoid their attacks. What mattered was getting out of here, not killing every last one of them. He needed to avoid an unnecessary fight and escape the dungeon first.
The Factory Furnace appeared to have fully awakened.
Huh.
But his body was already charging forward.
“Stop him!”
Yang Sunho shouted in alarm.
Two hunters holding the steel cables let go and rushed forward. One held a hand axe, while the other carried a broad-bladed cleaver.
Then I will too.
Dohyeon’s hand reached for the sword over his shoulder. His other hand moved behind his waist to grip the sheath, and with a shing, the long blade slid free.
“Hold him back!”
The crossbowman shouted as they swiftly reloaded.
It looked as though they needed only a moment. The two hunters confronting Dohyeon did not seem particularly tense either.
Idiots. They had let their guard down.
Dohyeon’s movement accelerated once more.
Before they could react, a flash of light passed over the necks of the hunters with the axe and cleaver.
They let out choking groans. Almost simultaneously, the two hunters’ necks split with a crack, and they collapsed.
“Uh, uh!”
Yang Sunho made a stupid sound as he hurriedly retreated into a corner.
The crossbowman, teeth clenched, aimed their freshly reloaded crossbow this way.
Their face, twisted by irrationality, was striking.
Soon, Dohyeon saw the bolt launched from the crossbow string as it flew toward him.
Time slowed again.
But this time, he did not dodge.
The bolt fired from the crossbow struck Dohyeon’s face.
“I hit...!”
Just as the crossbowman’s expression began to brighten, Dohyeon’s sword, already upon them, struck their neck.
Their head floated free from their body.
At the moment of death, their face was bright with the instinctive certainty of victory.
After dealing with the crossbowman and turning around, Dohyeon had the bolt clenched between his teeth.
[What the... Are you A-rank? Are you some freak who hides their strength and plays at being weak?]
The Steel Man, kneeling in the steel net, muttered that.
In contrast, Yang Sunho screamed desperately.
“W-who are you?! Are you Samgyeong’s A-rank? Did you come to support the White Knight? How much do you know about this operation?”
Dohyeon spat out the bolt he had held in his mouth with a ptoo.
“Does it feel unfair?”
“W-what?”
When Yang Sunho stupidly asked again, Dohyeon looked directly into his eyes and spoke.
“I asked if it feels unfair to die.”
“...!”
Deep within Dohyeon’s eyes, which had looked black, Yang Sunho saw yellow light flash.
His body froze.
As Yang Sunho froze, the other hunters could only watch uncertainly.
Three corpses already lay on the ground, one hunter was lying down and gasping with a bolt in their stomach, and only the remaining lackeys were left, frozen by the situation.
[...This is a development I didn’t expect. Still, it doesn’t seem like there are any more hiding.]
At that moment, the Steel Man, who had been unable to move while tangled in the net, suddenly raised their right hand.
The short blade Dohyeon had seen earlier sprang from the back of their hand with a shing.
No, it was not short this time.
It was a longsword glowing blue.
The Steel Man extended the longsword and swung it. The steel net binding their movements snapped apart like rotten rope.
Looking around at the half-dazed hunters, they spoke.
[None of you will leave here alive.]
At that moment, Yang Sunho, who had frozen after meeting Dohyeon’s glowing eyes, cried out desperately.
“Attack!”
There was no specific order about whom to attack or how.
He had merely raised his voice as if in a seizure.
Thus, some of the five remaining Ohwa hunters went for the Steel Man, some went for Dohyeon, and others turned to flee.
Dohyeon charged to meet the hunters rushing toward him.
He gripped his sword in both hands and held it low around his waist, horizontally.
In his endlessly clear vision, he could see the abilities of the two hunters running toward him.
They might have received B-rank now, but ten years ago, their movements would not have qualified them to be hunters at all, let alone C-rank.
Idiots who trusted only in numbers and traveled in packs. Did they think there had not been fuckers like them all these years? That was why they were such unoriginal idiots.
True to their level, they could not follow Dohyeon’s movements at all, even as his blade passed through their necks.
“Guhk...”
The two hunters clutched their split throats, fell facedown, and twitched.
When Dohyeon turned his head, the Steel Man had already dealt with the hunters who had rushed at them and even finished off those who had tried to flee.
“The net... the wire ropes... they were supposed to keep me from moving... keep me from moving...”
Now only Dohyeon, the Steel Man, and Yang Sunho remained standing.
The Steel Man slowly shook their head as they looked at Yang Sunho.
[Did you think I would enter dungeons alone without even this much preparation? What do you think an A-rank is?]
“I...”
It was obvious that Yang Sunho was desperately turning his thoughts over. Anyone could tell by the way his eyes rolled around.
Soon, as though he had found an answer, he opened his mouth.
“I have another...”
The Steel Man’s longsword lodged in his face.
His head split vertically, and the blue-glowing longsword broke with a clang.
[Ah, damn it. It was expensive. The durability is complete trash.]
The Steel Man detached even the remaining blade from the back of their hand and tossed it away, then turned to Dohyeon.
Standing with both hands on their waist and their posture slightly tilted, they spoke.
[You don’t seem to be with Ohwa after all. What are you?]
“Find out.”
[...Oh?]
Unlike before, Dohyeon’s answer was brief and provocative. The Steel Man cocked their head.
But Dohyeon was inwardly just as puzzled.
He was imagining a fight with the Steel Man.
A fight where he cut through and shattered their armor, tore off their helmet, and crushed the head inside.
Dohyeon too would be hurt in that process. He would bleed, and perhaps he would die.
But every struggle, even that, was an offering to the goddess...
A heavy pulse rang out nearby with a thump.
Dohyeon jolted back to his senses and turned his head.
“This is bad.”
[Oh, this is bad.]
The Steel Man voiced a similar thought.
In the direction they were looking stood a burning furnace.
It was a bizarre furnace that devoured and burned space itself, growing larger.
The factory machinery, assembly lines, oil tanks, Fixtures, Factory Snakes, and the other monsters in this dungeon.
That was not all.
Entire sections of space itself were being torn away in chunks and sucked into the furnace.
The furnace swallowed things too difficult to describe, melted them as it intensified its flames, and fed its own fire.
Those flames had already drawn dangerously near.
The Steel Man lightly tapped Dohyeon’s shoulder.
Dohyeon turned in surprise, and they spoke.
[Should we run for now?]
“...”
Dohyeon silently agreed.
That was not even something they could defeat in a fight.
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