WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈

Chapter 5: Toward the Labyrinth City

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The wolf that collapsed onto the snow thrashed as blood dyed the ground red.

“Grr! Bark!”

“Amazing! Ian hit it!”

“So this is... magic!”

“Huh?!”

“That bastard isn’t dead! Shoot it! Kill it!”

The others erupted in cheers.

I stopped Elena as she nocked an arrow.

“Don’t shoot!”

“Why not?”

“I only wounded it on purpose.”

“What?”

The one I had hit was an adult male.

I could have aimed for its neck or torso, but I had deliberately targeted its leg. I explained why to Elena and the primitive medieval people around her.

“If one dies, the others will get more worked up and rush us.”

When a child died, its parents lost their minds. The same went for a mate.

That was why I had wounded the male, the leader of the pack. Even on a battlefield, didn’t soldiers create wounded enemies to slow down the opposing army?

“...That makes sense. A smart decision.”

“I’ve seen hunters do that. You really are a genius!”

Dize and Elena looked impressed.

The young, greedy Mauk apparently didn’t see it that way.

“What about the food?!”

“Do you want to fight those three for meat, or do you want to get through safely? You could be the victim. Or it could be someone else. Can you take responsibility for that?”

For the weight of a life?

I stared directly at Mauk as I spoke.

“...”

Mauk couldn’t answer.

And what could we do if they refused to accept it? The wounded wolf had already staggered far away.

It hadn’t fled completely, but the encirclement had broken.

‘The wolves won’t attack right away anyway.’

“Let’s go.”

The Expedition Party.

No, the amateur party that wanted to become an Expedition Party set off again.

Whoooosh!

Awooooo!

The blizzard howling through the mountains and valleys sounded like ghosts wailing.

The endless snowfield sparkled like jewels in the sunlight, but it was really a field of death. Wolves prowled around us as they followed, making the place feel even more ominous.

Those cunning bastards would creep close whenever we looked away for even a moment.

“Shoo! Shoo! Get lost!”

It was an environment harsh enough to make Everest come to mind.

The temperature had to be below minus thirty degrees Celsius, and the wind chill was even worse.

‘We can’t even start a fire in this blizzard.’

No matter how much tougher the people of this world were than modern people, there was no way they could endure it easily.

Thud.

The first person to fall behind was a woman with little stamina.

What was her name again?

“Amy. The third daughter from the cloth shop.”

I didn’t know, but Elena, who was usually slow on the uptake, remembered the woman’s name.

Elena checked Amy’s condition and shook her head. Amy’s motionless hand still tightly held a half-eaten potato.

“...”

‘May you find peace in your next life.’

Elena and I removed Amy’s outer clothes.

“W-What are you doing?!”

“She’s already dead.”

“Even so...”

The others looked flustered, but the orphan crew had grown used to looting corpses by now.

There was nothing in her food bag.

Her clothes, though, were useful. Layering them over ours made the cold a little more bearable.

As we moved on, I looked back and saw the wolves dragging Amy’s body away.

They didn’t pursue us after that.

“Amy died, but the wolf family survived.”

Was this the cycle of life?

“All we can do is hope a human decoy works well.”

“A decoy what?”

“There’s such a thing.”

“You say strange things sometimes. Are all mages like that?”

Crunch. Crunch.

“When the hell are we going to get any closer?!”

The tower flickering like a mirage through the blizzard remained in the same place.

Of course it did. Not even a full day had passed yet.

Later, everyone conserved even the strength needed to talk as they walked.

Selfishness bloomed in extreme situations. The looks of the people who had encouraged each other were growing more and more sinister.

Did they want someone else to collapse at any moment?

So they could get more food or clothing, both of which would clearly be in short supply.

“I’m sleepy...”

The only other woman besides Elena, a girl following behind us, collapsed.

This time, Mauk’s gang rushed forward first to loot the body.

“She’s mine!”

Tsk. The brat had learned nothing but bad habits.

I stepped in front of him.

“She’s not dead yet.”

Her breath was still escaping in faint puffs.

“What are you talking about?! She’s dead! Are you trying to keep her all for yourselves?!”

Crackle!

I cast Electric Spark, the spell called Bolt, through my staff and touched it to the girl.

“Eek!”

The girl jolted awake in fright.

Smack! Smack!

“Get a grip. If you fall asleep now, you’ll die, recruit.”

“Ugh... Okay! Okay!”

After the extreme treatment, including slapping her cheeks, she came fully to and started moving again.

It felt like Mauk’s favor toward me, which had risen because of magic, had dropped again.

Elena added, “Ian, being too kind is your problem.”

“What?”

Of course, I was a genius mage and a cultured modern man, so I had more of a conscience than those primitive medieval people.

But there was another reason.

‘People are more useful than corpses.’

They gave us more options in an emergency, and they could be used as bait if necessary.

The wolves had also hesitated to attack earlier because there were so many of us.

Numbers were a weapon in themselves.

Even more so for weaklings like us.

Whoooosh!

As we walked, a clear metallic sound pierced through the wind, like metal striking metal.

The world paused for a moment, and a coin spun before my eyes.

[Heads/Tails]

The coin had appeared over a man walking with us named Tim.

Could this be...?

‘Heads.’

[Tails]

Failure!

Rumble!

With an ominous roar, the ground beneath the man suddenly gave way.

“Ahhhhh!”

The ground vanished beneath Tim’s feet, and he fell down the slope.

“Tiiim!”

Someone close to him screamed.

Elena blocked their path.

“Idiot, don’t go near it! Do you want to die with him?”

So this was what happened when you failed a coin toss.

Fuck.

Goosebumps rose on my skin.

‘I just tested Tim’s luck at the boundary between life and death.’

The ground beneath Tim’s feet had probably been weak from the start.

The coin was only one variable in a place where he had always been likely to fall. Yet I could have changed that fate.

‘Was he counted as part of my party?’

It was exactly like the game.

Failure brought horrible misfortune.

We couldn’t even find Tim’s body.

“It’s getting dark.”

“We need to find somewhere to sleep.”

They said luck came after misfortune.

Fortunately, we found a cave before night fell completely.

“Elena.”

“I can’t hear anything.”

It didn’t seem to be a white bear’s territory either. I couldn’t feel the creatures’ distinctive, bone-chilling cold.

[Faint Light]

Using the most basic spell of Arcane, I lit the tip of my staff and shone it inside.

The uneven floor held nothing but long-dried fur and droppings.

“L-Light...”

“Ian is amazing...”

“Shh.”

...

“It looks like a predator used to live here, but I don’t think it’s here now.”

With spears raised, we slowly entered the cave.

We searched every corner, but found no sign of anything.

There was a vent, too. We could start a fire here.

“Daisy, fill the pot with snow. Dize, start a fire. Elena, you and those two pile snow at the entrance and seal it up.”

I gave out orders.

“Okay!”

“Y-Yeah.”

Starting with Dize, the oldest among us, everyone had naturally begun listening to me.

“Mauk.”

“What?”

As I spread a blanket on the ground to ward off the cold, I spoke to Mauk, who was doing nothing.

“If you have a lot of food, share some.”

“Why should I? It’s mine.”

“The others are working while you rest. And I’ll excuse you from fire watch.”

It was a reasonable offer.

“Fuck off.”

Apparently, he hated sharing food as much as his bloated body suggested.

What a rude little brat.

‘His middle-school syndrome is hitting hard.’

As a wise young man over thirty in my past life, as well as a genius mage, I understood why Mauk was acting so hostile.

He felt inferior to me and was furious at Elena for hitting him.

Back in the village, he had been above us. Outside, he couldn’t learn magic or do anything, and he was being led around by orphans he usually looked down on.

‘A childish brat with a lot of pride and no ability.’

That was about it.

The village chief had even given me a staff in exchange for looking after the little punk. It would be better for us to cooperate until we reached the Labyrinth City, so I had wanted to keep things civil.

Did I need to show him the power of magic?

As I gripped my staff and sighed, Elena returned after sealing the entrance.

“Ian, I keep telling you that you’re too soft.”

She brushed snow from herself, a broad grin spreading across her face as she held a club.

“Want to fight?!”

Mauk and the other two members of his gang sprang up, grabbing clubs and axes.

“You brats! What are you doing at a time like this? S-Sit down!”

Dize, the oldest among us, tried to stop them as he worked flint to start the fire. No one listened.

“D-Do you think my words mean nothing?!”

He was even more intimidated because he himself had been cowed by kids years younger than him.

Thwack!

“Ahhhhh!”

The fight ended easily.

Elena avoided their clumsy attacks with the agility unique to elves, then beat them mercilessly with her club.

“Want to get hit more, or hand over the food?”

“Ugh...”

The moment they hesitated, the club came down again.

“Argh! Stop! Stooop!”

She beat them until they were bruised.

Elena seemed determined to put those bastards in their place.

No matter how mature she looked, Elena had only recently become an adult. Wanting revenge on Mauk’s gang for always looking down on her was only natural.

“I’ll give it to you... I’ll give it!”

The physical therapy had worked wonders.

Mauk, who hadn’t listened no matter how rationally I spoke, was quickly broken.

‘He had to get hit before coming to his senses.’

‘How could they be this primitive?’

We needed to work together, if anything.

As I lamented the level of these medieval people, Elena giggled as she held up the jerky and bread she had taken from Mauk.

“Meat! Ian, let’s make a huge pot of stew!”

“You damn gangster elf.”

Still, good job, Elena.

Our relationship with Mauk’s gang had worsened, but at least we could fill our stomachs.

Daisy, the girl I had saved earlier, filled a pot with snow and melted it into water. We crumbled hard bread into it and added jerky, and a stew was ready in no time.

“Ahhh.”

“It’s good. Daisy, you’re a pretty good cook.”

“Hehe. Thanks.”

Daisy was especially skilled, and the soup was seasoned just right.

Simply eating warm food restored our stamina and lifted our spirits. With a fire going, we could even drink warm water. It was perfect.

‘Meat really is the best!’

‘We’re eating more meat after leaving the village. Maybe this isn’t so bad?’

Everyone took off their boots, gloves, and wet clothes to dry by the campfire.

A rank smell spread through the cave, but no one cared.

Crackle. Crackle.

‘What a goddamn awful world.’

In this world where everything was frozen, the warmth of a campfire was more than simple heat.

Leaning my staff against my shoulder, I sank into a pleasant drowsiness and thought.

Only one day had passed since we left the village.

Yet two people had died, even though we had prepared as best we could.

‘More would have died without me.’

‘Magic really is great.’

I had hoped that surviving this shitshow would earn me a new spell related to water or Frost, but I still hadn’t gained one.

It made sense.

Even in the game, learning a new spell took months of painstaking effort.

‘It was only skipped over in the game.’

Awooooo!

A faint howl echoed through the blizzard.

Everyone was already nodding off in the warmth of the campfire. I clapped my hands sharply to wake them.

“We need to keep watch. Mauk, since you generously provided the food, you’re exempt. Everyone else will take turns for an hour each.”

“Ahem.”

When I praised him, Mauk puffed out his chest despite his bruised face.

He was annoying, but seeing him like that made him a little cute.

‘He’s still a kid.’

At least with this many people, the watch shifts would be easy.

“Can’t we just sleep? We sealed the entrance.”

Elena asked as she sniffed her own feet.

Why was she even smelling those?

I answered after a moment.

“You never know.”

The creatures could show up, and someone had to keep the fire from going out.

“How do we keep time, though?”

At that, Mauk snorted and pulled something from his bag.

“When all the sand runs out, ten minutes have passed. So you flip it over six times.”

It was crude, made of wood and animal bladder with sand inside, but it was unmistakably an Hourglass.

“It’s valuable, so handle it carefully. Got it?”

“Ooh.”

“That’s amazing.”

“Pretty impressive, Mauk.”

He really was the Giving Tree.

I praised Mauk too, then quickly spoke before anyone noticed.

“Then I’ll take the first watch... I mean, I’ll go first.”

Elena raised her hand next.

“I’ll take the last one.”

“I’ll take the second!”

Dize, the oldest, seemed to know a little better and chose second.

“Then I’ll take whichever one.”

“I’ll take the fourth.”

The innocent kids, who still knew nothing, picked the remaining shifts.

‘Tsk. The first and last watches are the best.’

If they had served in the Korean military, they would know that. Well, they would learn eventually.

“Even if someone knocks at the entrance, never answer. Quietly wake the people around you first.”

I set the rules for watch duty.

Everyone yawned and nodded, then lay down, exhausted.

‘There isn’t much firewood, so we have to conserve it.’

I kept the fire alive by adding small twigs one at a time.

Even so, the kids drifted off beneath their blankets.

“Ian, you were amazing today.”

“Yeah, mages really are different!”

At first, they excitedly chattered about what had happened that day and my accomplishments.

Then came sniffling.

“Mom... Mom... Sob.”

“Don’t cry, idiot...”

Their bodies were exhausted, but sleep probably didn’t come easily.

Everyone called for the parents who had usually beaten or abandoned them. No matter how much those people had failed as human beings, the children couldn’t help thinking of them at a time like this.

...

After standing my watch, I fell asleep.

I’d told Elena to keep an eye on Mauk’s gang, just in case.

Rustle.

As I slept, I sensed someone nearby.

Thinking Mauk’s gang might be trying to get revenge, I gripped my staff and cracked my eyes open.

It wasn’t them.

“Ian! Ian!”

A face covered in freckles.

This kid was Demi, right?

He was on the fourth watch, and he was waking me with a pale face, like he had seen something strange.

“...What?”

“Someone’s knocking on the door!”

“...!”

The words drove all sleep from me.

I carefully listened.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The entrance we had sealed with snow should have frozen solid by now, becoming a wall.

A knocking sound with a strange rhythm echoed faintly through the cave.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Goosebumps rose on my skin as I clenched my staff.

Fuck. It was them.

Footnotes:

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