WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Alyo
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Warrior in a TRPG World ◈
Chapter 74: Promotion (2)
──────
“When you leave a letter with the Adventurers’ Guild, stamp it with that seal and send it to the Ashburn family. It’ll reach me. And the same goes the other way around.”
Gerik was once again grateful for the old knight’s thoughtfulness in cherishing their connection to the very end.
As the two finished their conversation, a servant who had been watching their sparring session nearby approached with a horse.
Following the servant’s lead, Ilvern mounted the horse. After saying they would meet again someday, he left Gerik behind and departed.
* * *
‘Could that strange phenomenon earlier really have been related to a class promotion? I hope so...’
After seeing Ilvern off, Gerik immediately returned to his lodgings and recalled the strange phenomenon that had unfolded before him.
‘Maybe... if I look at that book in my mindscape, I’ll find some answers...’
According to Ilvern, it was probably related to a class. Gerik quickly entered meditation and tried to make contact with the book in his mindscape.
‘Is something happening to the book...?’
Before long, Gerik sensed a bright light flowing from the “book” in his mindscape.
Excited by the sight, which he had never seen before, he carefully picked it up and opened it. Then he found unfamiliar words rising from its pages.
[Classes Available for Promotion]
1. Warrior - Requirements Met
* Possess 3 required skills (Slash, Strength Enhancement, Charge - Met)
* Train one possessed skill to its limit (Slash - Met)
2. Dimension Raider - Requirements Met
* Possess 3 required skills (Telekinesis, Slash, Charge - Met)
* Train one possessed skill to its limit (Slash - Met)
3. ??? of the Abyss (???) / Requirements Unmet - (???, ???, One Who Crossed the Line of Death)
To his astonishment, Gerik realized that he had been given additional options besides the Warrior class he had expected.
He had already learned how to promote to Warrior through several people, but Dimension Raider and ??? of the Abyss were options he had never even imagined.
‘Dimension Raider... and Abyss... what?’
Gerik could not hide his excitement. Setting aside ??? of the Abyss, for which he lacked the requirements, Dimension Raider was clearly no ordinary special class.
Carefully, he reached toward Dimension Raider, wondering what would happen. A short message asking whether he wished to promote appeared.
‘...Is that all?’
Unfortunately, there was no further explanation anywhere. What abilities the class would grant, what he would lose and what he would gain. Nothing.
The same was true of Warrior. Even classes for which he had gathered every piece needed for promotion offered so little information. There was even less to say about ??? of the Abyss, whose name had not even been properly revealed.
‘...Isn’t this way too unhelpful?’
The possession and system novels he had occasionally read in his previous life had given proper explanations. Gerik sighed in frustration at the pitiful amount of information he was receiving.
“Haah... All I know is the setting and the five hours or so I spent playing a Tabletop Role-Playing Game...”
He had played while dying and drugged out of his mind. Worse, he had only played briefly during visiting hours, so his knowledge of the world created by Seoljeong was far too limited.
He regretted not reading even a little more of the setting book before he died in his previous life.
‘I’ll advance to Dimension Raider!’
After staring at the promotion message for a long time, Gerik finally made up his mind with a resolute expression.
‘It’s obviously a special class.’
He had heard over and over from Ruben, Ilvern, and others that Warrior was an ordinary first-tier class obtainable through the Adventurers’ Guild.
Dimension Raider, on the other hand, was extraordinary from its name alone.
‘And it’s interesting that Telekinesis is its foundation skill...’
More than anything, the foundation skill drew Gerik in. Telekinesis was an exceptional, special power he had acquired in this world despite the restrictions of Skillbooks. A class built around it could not possibly be ordinary.
Having settled his thoughts, Gerik took a deep breath. Then, just as he had when learning his first skill, he reached out and touched the intangible space before him.
“!!”
The moment he pressed the message, Gerik felt his soul abruptly whisked somewhere else. The sensation resembled using a Skillbook, but was far more intense, making him gasp in surprise.
‘Urk...!!’
When Gerik came to his senses, he realized he was standing somewhere while inhabiting another being. Then he recognized that the sight before him was not unfamiliar at all, but horribly familiar.
Walls pulsing as if alive. Damp passages that filled the living with an inexplicable sense of discomfort. A ceiling drenched in red light pouring from unknown crystals.
‘This is...!’
Gerik found himself aboard a bio-ship much like the one where he had recently undergone the Psionics awakening procedure.
He stared blankly at the scene before him. Unlike the ruins through which he had wandered, this ship was not merely intact, but seemingly alive, and the sight filled him with indescribable emotions.
‘Is it really a living creature?’
That was the only fitting description of the ship’s interior. The ship he had seen in Braktul’s world had been damaged, and its movements had been less pronounced, making it feel slightly less alien.
But the intact ship before him was different. Neither the walls, the floor, nor the ceiling remained still.
Constantly writhing, contracting, and relaxing, it felt less like a structure and more like the insides of a colossal creature.
Within that pulsing space, Gerik saw several Cthulhu-like Tentacled Humans standing in a row before the wall, waiting without moving. Their manner was far too familiar.
Crash!!
As Gerik watched closely, a violent impact rang out from the far end of the space where he stood.
Something broke and was torn apart. Then a terrifying tremor that shook his entire body swept through the ship.
Yet the being Gerik inhabited did not so much as flinch. The other Tentacled Humans lined up beside it merely stared silently ahead as well.
Screeech...!!
As the impact faded, a chilling sound burst from the wall before him, which began to split apart to either side like a beast opening its jaws.
Beyond it lay the interior of another ship made of strange green crystal. Its atmosphere was just as alien, beyond human imagination.
If the Tentacled Humans’ ship felt like the belly of a massive living creature, the ship before them resembled a beautiful crystal cave.
When the wall opened completely, the Tentacled Humans, including the one Gerik inhabited, lifted off as though they had been waiting for this moment and charged toward the unknown crystal ship.
Screeee!!
When the Tentacled Humans entered the ship, an irritating, sharp sound like crystal scraping rang out from every direction, like a siren.
Not long afterward, numerous humanoid beings made of green crystal poured into the space the Tentacled Humans had invaded and confronted them.
‘Are they angry?’
Just as Gerik thought, the Crystal Humans turned their entire bodies red as though expressing intense rage. Drawing sharp swords, they charged at the Tentacled Humans.
Brrr...!!
As if mocking them, the floating Tentacled Humans trembled the tentacles around their mouths and made grotesque noises.
Then, as if they had simply gone out to buy a snack, they leisurely closed the distance without the slightest sign of hurry.
Wheeeen!
Just before the Crystal Humans reached the Tentacled Humans, letting out a roar like metal and glass colliding, sharpened by fury, the Tentacled Human Gerik inhabited broadcast a powerful telepathic wave filled with malice and violent intent.
The nearest Crystal Humans took the telepathic blast head-on. They fell to their knees in agony, clutching their heads.
Grrrk...!!
As if ridiculing them, the Tentacled Human Gerik inhabited waggled its disgusting tentacles and scattered another thought-wave.
It had no effect whatsoever. It was merely a mass of malice released to mock its opponents. Gerik, inhabiting the creature, could feel its malice in full.
Then, as though showing off, the Tentacled Human drew a sword before a Crystal Human kneeling in pain. It was a sword familiar to Gerik, forged from crystal.
‘Wait... Don’t tell me...?’
Based on the malice emanating from the Tentacled Human and the sword’s material, Gerik realized that the sword was made from the same substance as the Crystal Humans before him.
Shk!!
As Gerik recoiled in horror at the realization, the Tentacled Human swung its sword hard. The blade, wrapped in dark crimson and ominous energy, cleanly severed the Crystal Human’s head.
By then, the Crystal Humans had apparently recovered from the mental shock caused by the telepathic wave. Seeing the Tentacled Human holding their fellow’s head, they charged again in fury.
Slither...!!
Watching their charge, the Tentacled Human extended its hideous tentacles and brushed the air as though their attack were laughable. To Gerik’s surprise, a translucent barrier appeared in front of it.
Bang!!
A Crystal Human charging fiercely failed to react to the sudden wall and slammed into it. The impact seemed severe enough to fling them in the opposite direction.
As the Crystal Human was incapacitated by the impact, the Tentacled Human, as though it had been waiting, extended a reddish Psionics whip from its tentacles and struck the flung opponent.
Shk!!
A powerful impact rang out, yet there was surprisingly no trace of physical injury. However, the Crystal Human struck by the whip shook as though electrocuted, their entire body displaying agony.
『Submit...!!』
As the Crystal Human fell after being struck by the whip, the Tentacled Human projected an overwhelmingly powerful thought toward them, far denser than anything before.
Perhaps because of that, Gerik had previously only felt vague emotions, but this time he could clearly read the Tentacled Human’s cry in his mind.
Brrr!!
The mind of the Crystal Human writhing in pain from the whip collapsed in an instant. Then it began to fill with nothing but obedience toward the Tentacled Human.
Horrifyingly, however, the Crystal Human’s awareness remained intact apart from that obedience. They still regarded the Tentacled Human as an enemy and still felt rage toward it.
They simply could not resist, moving like a puppet according to the Tentacled Human’s will. It was like being trapped inside a body whose control had been stolen by someone else, forced to watch the outside world.
Though forcibly “dominated” by the Tentacled Human, the Crystal Human raised their sword against their own kind at the creature’s command, despite retaining their awareness.
‘...Is this bastard enjoying it?’
Because he was inhabiting the creature, Gerik could vividly feel the Tentacled Human’s emotions. It was enjoying the sight of a Crystal Human forced into domination and made to point a sword at their own kind.
The realization filled Gerik with indescribable disgust.
‘On top of that... this bastard seems like it could shut off its emotions whenever it wants.’
The Tentacled Human’s actions seemed to embody evil itself.
Though it could have fought far more efficiently using its other abilities, it used the dominated Crystal Human as a shield purely for enjoyment, forcing guilt upon their fellow Crystal Humans.
It attacked those who hesitated with particular ruthlessness as well.
‘Insane...’
Because he shared every detail of the Tentacled Human’s psyche while inhabiting it, Gerik shuddered at the creature’s inner cruelty, which was a hundred times worse than what appeared on the surface.
Vwooom...!!
The Tentacled Human’s disgusting behavior caused overwhelming stress and hatred in the mind of the Crystal Human, the body’s original owner.
When that anger passed its breaking point, it gradually began to shatter the implanted brainwashing and slowly return control of the body to its original owner.
Feeling sensation return to their fingertips, the Crystal Human desperately waited for a chance to unleash their rage upon the Tentacled Human.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
