WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a B-Rank Hunter ◈
Chapter 29
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“...Why is this mine? We agreed that whatever each of us picked up in the dungeon belonged to that person.”
When Dohyeon said that while holding the bronze helmet, clearly dumbfounded, Jo Gyeongtaek answered as he picked up a side dish.
“You were the one who fought that guy, Mr. Dohyeon. And honestly, if you hadn’t been there in the dungeon yesterday, I would’ve been dead long ago.
“Even if I’d somehow found the exit, those fanatics would’ve caught me. They probably would’ve wrapped a rope around my neck, left me choking, and killed me. You were also the one who dealt with that guy in the end.”
“It was the first principle we set. Whoever picked something up kept it. You picked this up, so it’s yours. Take it.”
Jo Gyeongtaek smiled faintly as he chewed his food.
“You’re a very unusual person, Mr. Dohyeon. As you already know, I’m not a professional hunter.”
“...”
Dohyeon quietly looked at Jo Gyeongtaek at the abrupt remark. Still smiling, Jo Gyeongtaek continued.
“But I know hunters well. Not hunters inside dungeons, but hunters outside them. Hunters never know what sort of danger they may face inside a dungeon.
“Even a small threat can cost them their lives. That’s why most people don’t enter unless they’re desperate or backed into a corner. Though these days, with the economy so bad, more people are going in.”
Jo Gyeongtaek set down his chopsticks and took a sip of water.
“Ahem. Anyway, because of that desperation, hunters usually don’t hesitate when an opportunity to make money arises. When I held out the helmet just now, you might’ve doubted my intentions, but you wouldn’t have told me to take it back. Whether you used it yourself or sold it, it would’ve been useful.”
“Not everyone with the same job is the same. That applies to other professions as well.”
“You could say that. But those people are the exception. Every profession has social pressures that shape its character. People’s perceptions, beliefs, ways of thinking, financial means, and so on.”
Dohyeon’s brow creased slightly.
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’ve felt this ever since I first met you, Mr. Dohyeon. I don’t think you enter dungeons for money. Then why do you go in? Do you want to become an A-rank hunter and grow far stronger than everyone else? Or have you become fascinated by dungeons themselves?”
“...”
Why the hell was he asking that all of a sudden?
Dohyeon noticed something moving in the shiny surface of the spoon on the table.
The Valkyrie was listening behind him.
“You’re wondering why I enter dungeons...”
Dohyeon muttered lowly and stared at the table.
It was covered in appetizing food. Food prepared with money and care, food that looked good enough to try at least a bite of even if one was already full.
But to Dohyeon, the food coated in sauce on those plates looked like something else.
Blood-soaked lumps of flesh.
Among those lumps were a person he had once trusted as a teacher, people he had called seniors and shared happy times with, and a woman he had liked.
They had all become bloody masses. People who had formed a group around one goal and relied on one another as they moved forward had all become dead flesh.
That was what had happened to them in a dungeon. Was it a small mistake caused by poor preparation? A conspiracy by someone who hated the state-led dungeon project? Or merely a dungeon’s whim?
He did not know. Kang Dohyeon had been the only person to escape that dungeon alive.
The bodies of the twenty-three people in eight teams who died there had not even been recovered. They remained only in Dohyeon’s memories.
How was he supposed to honor the dead? By standing before graves whose coffins did not contain even a fingernail and laying flowers there?
Dohyeon entered dungeons.
Only when he entered a dungeon, when he stood alone in that world of chaos, tension, and misery, did Dohyeon feel alive.
Only inside dungeons could he miss the people who had died that day.
That was why he entered dungeons. Because entering them was the only way of living he had ever learned.
“...”
Meaningless, useless thoughts flashed through his mind. After blinking once, Dohyeon realized the food on the table was still merely appetizing and plentiful.
When he looked up, he saw Jo Gyeongtaek’s face behind his sunglasses. He could see the man’s eyes seriously watching him through those black lenses.
Dohyeon held out the helmet.
“...I’m telling you, I’m giving it to you.”
“Don’t make me force it onto your head.”
“...”
Dohyeon’s voice was deeply hoarse. Jo Gyeongtaek hesitated at that voice, which sounded half-clogged with phlegm, then eventually took the helmet back.
[It is a good choice, warrior. That helmet bears the sinister spell of the one-eyed god. Unless you wish to become his servant, it would be best not to wear it.]
As Dohyeon rose from his seat, he heard the Valkyrie’s voice and met Jo Gyeongtaek’s eyes again.
“Don’t use it yourself.”
“...Hm. Are we dropping the formalities now? Well, I never trusted artifacts to begin with. Still, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Dohyeon picked up the coat he had taken off and grasped the room’s sliding door. Seeing that, Jo Gyeongtaek spoke.
“You’re leaving already? You barely touched the food.”
“Looks like someone else was supposed to come.”
Dohyeon said so without looking back. Jo Gyeongtaek shrugged.
“As I said, I have connections with foreign companies. I was going to introduce you to one while I had the chance.”
“A major corporation?”
“A foreign one.”
“I’ll contact you if I need it.”
“If you need it?”
“Someday.”
Dohyeon opened the door and left. Jo Gyeongtaek watched the sliding door close, made a soft Tsk, then picked up his chopsticks again.
The food had been served, after all, and the bill would come eventually. Jo Gyeongtaek trusted that Cartain Energy would definitely cover that bill.
“Anyway, we exchanged numbers. What’s not to like about a major corporation?”
He grinned broadly as he picked up a piece of abalone.
* * *
“...”
Streetlights stretched out over the road in a panorama. Racing beneath those aligned lights, Dohyeon felt like a horse inside a projector.
Each tall, glowing streetlight was a frame. Whenever he passed one, a scene of him racing onward was projected somewhere.
If so, then Dohyeon would remain trapped on this endless road, running toward somewhere without end. A road repeating forever and a curse that forced him to keep racing upon it. It sounded like the sort of Anomaly he might encounter in a dungeon.
Come to think of it, there might already be something similar. Dungeons came in many types, and humanity had not even properly identified all the Anomalies that occurred within them.
Someone might be trapped in an Anomaly like the one Dohyeon imagined. Running endlessly, hoping someone would save them.
“...”
That woman. The female Asatru warrior. How had she caused that Anomaly? The Infinite Staircase had not simply occurred at precisely the most convenient moment. The Anomaly that arose then had certainly been caused by her.
Could an ancient faith that had supposedly vanished long ago let someone handle Anomalies freely, even though government agencies and major corporations had not fully understood them yet? No, thinking back, she had not controlled it completely.
[Are you feeling anxious?]
At the Valkyrie’s question, Dohyeon did not deny it. He remembered the hunters from a major corporation whom he had met in a dungeon not long ago, talking about making custom artifacts.
He had thought dungeons would never be understood. But perhaps some parts of them had already been uncovered in laboratories.
Then Dohyeon’s stomach let out a Grrr...
[You are hungry. Why did you leave without eating much? Those dishes were incomparably finer than the frozen meals you usually eat. It truly pains me that my warrior is so careless about food.]
“Whether I eat or not is none of your business.”
[How can you say that? If you wish to take care of your health, you must begin with what you eat. Are you truly trying to make me so sad, Helisbyorn?]
“...”
Dohyeon could not hide his uncomfortable expression. Who did she think she was, worrying so much about what someone else ate? A ghost no one but him could even see.
[That ghost is worrying about you right now. Hmm? Eat something more, warrior.]
“...”
With a sullen face, Dohyeon slowly reduced his speed and turned the wheel. After pulling over to the roadside and getting out, he saw the brightly glowing sign of a convenience store amid the darkness.
[Convenience-store food again? No, never mind. At least make sure you eat that. Thinking back, I do not believe I have ever seen you properly take care of your meals...]
Dohyeon got out of the car, shoved his hands into his coat pockets, and trudged toward the convenience store. Then he noticed a small scooter parked in front of it.
Someone was leaning against the scooter, fiddling with a smartphone. The person looking at the screen, no, the woman, raised her head.
“...!”
Her eyes widened. She hurriedly put her phone away and approached Dohyeon.
“Um...”
Though it was obvious she was calling to him, Dohyeon ignored her. He entered the convenience store and headed straight for the ready-meal section.
She followed him inside.
“Excuse me!”
“...”
Dohyeon’s hand stopped as he reached for a boxed meal.
“Um, can you not hear me?”
He could hear her. He was just ignoring her.
The woman calling him was rather pretty, with slightly dark skin. Her features also had a southern look to them.
He did not know her name, but her face was familiar enough. She was the woman who had once worked part-time at this convenience store.
Dohyeon moved his halted hand again, took a boxed meal, and walked to the counter. A checkout robot consisting of a single long arm occupied the space behind it.
[That will be 11,900 won. Would you like a bag?]
The robot had completed the transaction without even scanning a barcode. Dohyeon held his card to a machine in the corner to pay and nodded.
The robot arm, long like one from an old automobile factory, skillfully picked up the boxed meal and placed it in a bag.
It could do so thanks to its four fingers, which stretched long and moved like octopus tentacles.
[Thank you. Please come again!]
Dohyeon took the bag and left the convenience store. The former part-time worker hesitated behind him, unsure what to do, before eventually following him outside.
“Um, um... Excuse me...”
“...”
Dohyeon, who had been about to walk back to his car, stopped. He squeezed his eyes shut once, opened them, then slowly turned to the woman.
“What is it?”
The hesitant woman’s expression brightened at once. A small gauze pad was stuck to one side of her forehead.
“I, I don’t think I thanked you then...”
“What are you thanking me for?”
“Pardon? Um, you helped me then...”
They said she might never wake up, yet she looked perfectly fine.
Dohyeon glanced at her injury and spoke.
“Don’t worry about it. He started the trouble first.”
“Still... Thanks to you stepping in, I avoided something... something bad...”
Avoided it, my ass. I saw her head split open the next day.
But Dohyeon did not point that out.
“I see. Then take care.”
“Pardon? Um...”
As Dohyeon seemed about to turn away, determination came over her hesitant face.
“Um, if you haven’t eaten, I would like to, to at least buy you a meal...”
“I ate.”
“...Pardon?”
Her blank eyes turned toward Dohyeon’s hand.
He was holding a convenience-store bag.
Her eyes seemed to ask what that was supposed to mean, but Dohyeon ignored her completely. Instead of pressing him further, the woman brought up something else.
“Then give me your number. Next time, next time you’re hungry, I’ll buy you a meal.”
Her trailing way of speaking became firm. Instinctively, she had realized that if she hesitated any longer, Dohyeon would simply run off.
After thinking for a moment, Dohyeon entered a number into the smartphone she held out and turned away. She called after his back.
“I’ll contact you!”
She watched Dohyeon get into his car, then returned to the parked scooter. She put on a helmet and left the convenience store with a Put-put-put.
“...”
Sitting in the driver’s seat, Dohyeon quietly watched the scooter leave before starting the car.
Just as he was about to drive away, though.
“...?”
He saw a vehicle hidden in the shadows cast by roadside trees far down the road begin to move quietly. The black car slowly headed in the direction the scooter had gone.
“...”
It was obviously suspicious. But even after noticing it, Dohyeon did nothing. It had nothing to do with him. They were people entirely unrelated to him, and he did not want to involve himself. Who cared who the woman was or who was in that car?
Dohyeon drove to his apartment parking lot.
The moment he entered, his brow furrowed. The parking lot was a little chaotic.
There was a police car, as well as an ambulance off to one side. It seemed that something had happened within the apartment complex.
“What a damn mess.”
This had been a quiet apartment building. What was wrong with it lately?
Dohyeon felt tired. No, he should not have gone out to meet Jo Gyeongtaek in the first place. How much could they have possibly accomplished by talking?
If he had not gone outside, or if he had at least entered some dungeon and returned home late, he would not have met that nameless former part-time worker either. Then he would not be this tired.
Suppressing those irritated thoughts, Dohyeon parked his car, took the bag with his boxed meal, and entered the elevator. The Valkyrie stood silently in the elevator mirror.
The elevator doors opened with a Ding.
But Dohyeon froze at the scene beyond them and could not step outside.
“Sir? Do you live here?”
As he stood there blankly for a moment, someone approached. A police officer.
The scene before the open elevator was a chorus of police officers, paramedics, and apartment residents murmuring in a corner.
What happened this time?
Dohyeon, staring blankly at the scene, looked at the officer watching him.
“...Yes. I live here.”
“Your name?”
“Kang Dohyeon.”
“Kang Dohyeon, Kang Dohyeon...”
The officer operated a pad-shaped device larger than his palm, then looked mildly surprised.
“You’re a hunter?”
“Yes.”
“You live here... Ah, you’re the next-door neighbor.”
At the puzzling words, Dohyeon looked at him, and the officer continued.
“First, come out of the elevator. Yes. Are you acquainted with the family next door?”
“...The family next door?”
When Dohyeon stepped out, the officer showed him the screen of his device. It displayed the faces of an unfamiliar man and woman.
And beneath them, the face of a young girl.
“...If they’re the neighbors, they’re the couple who were always fighting.”
“Were you acquainted with them?”
“No.”
“Not at all? You didn’t even greet them?”
“I didn’t. I don’t even know their names.”
“Hmm...”
The officer was tapping his device when the apartment residents, held back to one side by another officer, began murmuring.
Dohyeon turned toward the sound and saw paramedics bringing out plastic body bags on stretchers.
“Step aside for a moment.”
“...”
Dohyeon moved aside at the officer’s words. The paramedics entered the elevator Dohyeon had ridden up in, moving at an unhurried pace.
Two large bags went in first, and someone inside said,
“The elevator is too small. Bring that one down later.”
Dohyeon naturally stepped farther into the corner. A body bag stopped beside him. It was the same size as the other two, but what lay inside was smaller.
For some reason, Dohyeon could not take his eyes off it.
“You said you had never even exchanged greetings. That can happen. I think they moved in fairly recently. Brutal, isn’t it?”
“...What happened?”
“About an hour ago, the husband killed his wife and child, then committed suicide. I don’t know whether it was financial hardship or a marital dispute, but... Since you weren’t close, I suppose that’s fortunate?”
At that moment, a paramedic standing before the elevator shifted position. The body bag, which had not been fully sealed, opened slightly, and a small hand slipped out.
A child’s hand.
The hand that had accepted the candy Dohyeon held out.
“...”
The elevator arrived shortly afterward, and the paramedics left. The officer who had questioned Dohyeon was about to go down with them, then suddenly stopped and looked at him.
“Hmm. You really didn’t know them?”
“...I didn’t.”
“The child too?”
“...I told you, I didn’t even know their names.”
The officer nodded, then took a business card from his jacket and held it out.
“You moved in recently, so I didn’t recognize you. If you remember anything or need something, contact me there. Let’s not meet too often, B-rank hunter Kang Dohyeon.”
“...”
Once the officer left, only a few whispering apartment residents remained. Dohyeon stared blankly at the officer’s business card, then strode toward his apartment.
As he passed, he saw the next-door door blocked off with yellow police tape.
The place that had always been noisy with the couple’s fighting was quiet now.
Dohyeon glanced at the door once, then entered his own apartment. It took time to unlock both the key lock and keypad.
“...”
A chilling air greeted him. Ignoring it, Dohyeon went inside and carelessly tossed the bag with his boxed meal toward the kitchen. He removed his coat and shirt, let them fall to the floor, and headed into the bathroom.
Bending over the sink, he repeatedly splashed water over his face. The cold water seemed to wake his exhausted mind.
Afterward, Dohyeon kept his head lowered and stared at the sink for a while.
Because he did not want to raise his head and meet the Valkyrie’s eyes.
Why was she not saying anything?
Dohyeon kept his gaze down, squeezed his eyes shut, then raised his head and looked into the mirror.
“...?”
The Valkyrie was gone. Instead, beyond the mirror stood a man with bright yellow eyes.
No, looking more closely, that man had Dohyeon’s own face.
The next moment, the man spoke.
[You fucking idiot. That child died because you stood by and did nothing.]
“What?”
[You knew the household next door was openly falling apart, and you ignored it. You said it had nothing to do with you. Great job, you piece of shit.]
Dohyeon wondered what the hell was happening, but something surged within him. Who was this bastard to insult him?
“...It’s true that it had nothing to do with me. I never even exchanged greetings with them. But...”
[The child died, you dumb fuck! Whether the two assholes who always fought lived or died was their own problem, but what did that little kid ever do wrong?!]
The man in the mirror bared his teeth and growled like a beast. His fangs flashed white.
[You lived next door, you saw her face, and you even shared food with her, even if it was only something small! If you had stepped in, she might have lived! If you had shown even a little concern instead of going out to get someone to buy you dinner tonight, she could have lived, you piece of shit!]
“...Bullshit. Then what, was I supposed to visit every struggling family in the world and save their children...”
[Don’t change the subject, maggot! Who told you to save the world? I’m talking about the girl who was right before your eyes! That little kid whose name you didn’t even know!]
Dohyeon felt his breathing grow ragged. Who was this bastard to blame him? He had not even been home. What could he have done?
“Why should I have interfered in the business of neighbors I barely knew and had nothing to do with? Why should I...”
[Then why do you feel guilty now?]
“...Fuck off. Why would I feel guilty?”
Disgust filled the man’s yellow eyes.
[The girl next door died, and you could not stop it. Even if they were not particularly close, it is the sort of thing that would make a person feel some degree of guilt. But you are trying to deny even that small feeling, you maggot.]
In that moment, heat surged over Dohyeon’s cheeks and ears. The disgust in those yellow eyes made him unbearably angry.
[That child may as well have died because of you, maggot. And in the end, you did not even try to learn her name...]
His fist struck the mirror. It cracked outward in a web with a sharp Crack!
Dohyeon gripped the sink, gasping as he steadied himself.
Meeting Jo Gyeongtaek had been a mistake. Eating there had been a mistake, and remembering the past had been a mistake.
Listening to that nonsense about why he entered dungeons and getting lost in thought had also been a mistake.
Going to the convenience store on the way back, failing to ignore that woman, noticing the black vehicle following her, then only afterward getting into the elevator, all of it had been mistakes.
If he had come to his senses a little sooner with each of those mistakes, then perhaps he could have returned home an hour earlier.
No. Giving candy to that child he did not even know had been a mistake from the beginning.
And in dungeons, mistakes meant death.
So I...
[Helisbyorn. My warrior...]
Then someone wrapped their arms around Dohyeon’s shoulders from behind. Warm feathers seemed to cover his body.
Dohyeon jerked his head up. In the mirror, cracked like a spiderweb, and amid its fragments, he saw the Valkyrie.
The Valkyrie within the shattered mirror held Dohyeon’s hand. The hand that had been cut by the mirror and was bleeding.
[The world is far too vast, and a single human’s perception cannot encompass it all. Thus pain and misfortune always come for you from the chaotic world beyond your perception.
It is not because you have done something wrong, nor because someone above the sky has sent punishment to chastise you. It is merely the way phenomena flow.]
His right fist, which had struck the mirror, felt cool. It was still bleeding, and mirror fragments remained embedded in it, but the pain had lessened.
The Valkyrie in the mirror spoke.
[Then tell me, my warrior. What can a mere human do in that chaotic world?]
Dohyeon met the Valkyrie’s eyes in the broken mirror.
Looking at those green flames, he felt calm, as if he had submerged himself in a cool river.
“...”
The next moment, Dohyeon began to move.
Leaving the bathroom, he picked up the coat he had thrown off earlier and headed to the small room, his armory. There, he took the sword that had turned black after consuming the gear.
After checking the blade and his car keys once each, Dohyeon left through the front door without a moment of hesitation.
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