WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈
Chapter 7: Wrong Choice, Consequences, and Farming
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Beneath a watchtower that had collapsed, half-buried in the snow.
The buildings that still retained their shape and the debris creaked precariously, making bleak sounds.
The ruined village, buried beneath the blizzard, gave the illusion that time had stopped.
“Let’s go in.”
Mauk’s group entered the building that seemed to be in the best condition.
Everyone raised their weapons warily, but there was nothing inside.
“Nothing here, right?”
“Nothing.”
“Whew.”
Aside from a few small holes, it had a roof and walls that kept out the snowstorm. It was cozier than they had expected.
“Look! Firewood!”
There was even a pile of logs the villagers had been unable to take with them.
Mauk’s group had been shivering and breathing white mist, but their faces brightened.
“Mauk, give me the flint.”
“Um…”
Jack held out his hand with a snicker, and Mauk hesitated.
“Ian said not to light a fire…”
Ian’s advice came back to him.
“What’s with you, Mauk? You’re seriously going to listen to that?”
“What would a guy who just became a mage know? He’s never even left the village.”
Mauk could not stand being looked down on within the group.
When he handed over the flint, Jack lit the fire and badmouthed Ian.
“That bastard Ian. What was he so scared of that he acted like such a coward?”
Kevin, who had been thoroughly beaten by Elena, joined in as well.
“Yeah, those guys probably froze to death by now. Hehehe.”
Mauk would have agreed before, but he kept his mouth shut.
“…”
Ian.
That guy definitely was not ordinary.
Mauk had acted tough in front of Ian, but deep down, he acknowledged Ian.
‘A mage like my brother.’
His older brother had awakened as a Fire Mage.
No, Ian might even be more than that.
His spells were one thing, but his knowledge was vast. His calmness and cool judgment made Mauk wonder if they really were the same age.
Without Ian, they would have lost their center and split apart long ago, dying in that snowfield.
‘They say mages are known as second guides in the labyrinth.’
Had he made the right choice?
The thought crossed Mauk’s mind.
But it was already too late. They could not turn back and find them again.
Fuck.
Mauk cursed inwardly in frustration, then spoke to the others.
“We’ll spend the night here as planned. Block the door.”
They piled up the household items inside to block the entrance.
Just as Ian had taught them, they packed snow against it to make it sturdier.
Crackle. Crackle.
Warmth rose from the fire, and everyone began nodding off.
They set a watch and tried to sleep.
Knock, knock, knock.
“…!”
The knocking returned.
Remembering the nightmare from the night before, Mauk’s group jolted awake and gripped their weapons.
“It’s fine. If we put out the fire and stay quiet, it’ll be fine…”
Mauk put out the fire just as Ian had taught him.
There was one difference.
This ruined village was the Night Visitors’ habitat and grave.
Knock, knock, knock… BANG! BANG! BANG!
“Eek!”
Unlike before, the Night Visitor did not simply knock. It pounded against the door as if it would smash it apart.
Before long, the door hinges gave way.
Though they could not see in the darkness, an icy wind blew through the broken gap. A chilling gaze seemed to sweep over them.
‘Quiet.’
Everyone desperately suppressed their fear and held their breath.
BANG! BANG!
It was useless.
The intruder finally smashed through the door completely.
Scrape. Creak. Scrape.
Something scraped along the ground.
“AAAAAH!”
“The fire! Light the fire again! We have to fight!”
No, perhaps they would have been better off leaving it unlit.
Mauk’s terrified group relit the fire and grabbed their torches. In the warm light, the creature’s form became fully visible.
It had the shape of a human, but it was not human.
Had it once been a farmer?
It wore a hemp-cloth tunic and a straw hat, though the frozen clothes now clung tightly to its emaciated body. Snow and ice crystals jutted from its clothing like saw teeth, while its exposed skin had decayed to a blue-black hue, like rotten tree bark.
Creak. Crack. Creak.
That dragging sound from before had come from it moving.
Ice clinging to its joints cracked ominously as it staggered closer.
Whoosh!
The torch they held burned faintly, as if resisting the cold.
Instead of giving them courage, though, it only made the grotesque figure clearer.
Where one of the farmer’s eyes had been, only a black hollow remained.
But its remaining eye, grotesquely veined and bloodshot, stared directly at Mauk’s group.
…
“The Winter-Cursed…”
At the horrific sight of an undead for the first time, Mauk’s group froze in place.
Jack pointed his spear at it threateningly.
“D-Don’t come closer! I’ll kill you!”
The farmer said nothing.
It continued forward despite Jack’s spear and swung the plow in its hand.
Crunch!
“Uh?”
With a sickening crunch, the plow harvested Jack’s head.
With half his head crushed, Jack stared blankly with his mouth agape, not yet understanding what had happened to him.
“Uh…?”
“AAAAAAAH!”
Then pain crashed over him, and he screamed.
“Help me… help…”
Human life was both endlessly fragile and stubbornly resilient.
Even as the undead farmer slashed at him and bit into the back of his neck, tearing at him, Jack kept calling out to his friends.
“AAAAAH!”
Despite their longtime friend’s desperate pleas, Mauk’s group could not do anything.
They clawed and kicked wildly at the walls, trying to escape what had once been a cozy shelter.
No, it was a prison now.
BANG! BANG!
“It’s open! It’s ope…!”
Mauk tore away the rotten wooden boards and climbed outside, only for his face to stiffen.
Beyond the snowstorm in the darkness, countless dark shadows were staggering toward them.
“Ugh… sob…”
Mauk wet himself as he realized something.
There was suffering more terrible than freezing to death.
And he should have listened to Ian.
“AAAAAAAH!”
* * *
No Corpse Trees. No undead.
Under Ian’s guidance, the group found a decent spot and built a shelter for the night.
They stacked snow bricks into a house.
An igloo.
They dug out the floor and laid down blankets to block the cold, then made a small hearth in the center for a fire and a tiny air hole to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
Elena watched Ian make a temporary shelter so quickly in the middle of the snowfield and looked impressed.
“How did you know how to do this?”
“I learned it from Surviving in Antarctica.”
“Surviving in what?”
“It’s one of the Grimoires.”
It was required reading in elementary school, and it was both fun and useful.
“There really are books about everything. Ha, I wanted to become a mage too.”
Elena shook her head in amazement as she wrapped herself in a blanket.
The inside was small, but it was more comfortable than expected.
Dize suddenly lowered his head.
“Sorry for showing you such an ugly side of me.”
Responsibility was weighing heavily on him.
“I’m still an adult… I should’ve set an example… Fuck, why am I like this?”
“What do you think happened to Mauk’s group?”
“They’re probably dead. There’s a high chance of it.”
“Idiots. They got themselves killed trying to act tough. Hehehe.”
From Ian and Elena’s conversation, Dize could guess Mauk’s group’s fate.
He thought he had faintly heard screams, too.
He had failed to lead the group as the oldest.
He had failed to stop the others from splitting apart.
That was the guilt and responsibility Dize felt.
“It’s okay, Dize.”
The funny thing was that Ian, a kid several years younger than him, comforted him as if he could read his heart like an old soul.
And Dize found comfort in those words.
His self-loathing doubled.
‘I need to do something too… I need to…’
“You worked the hardest digging holes and making bricks today. Get some rest.”
“…Whew. Okay.”
‘This is all I’m good for.’
He was not extraordinary like Ian or Elena.
That was probably why he had been driven out of the village.
‘Pathetic.’
Dize spoke gloomily.
“Would I have been strong like you two if I’d been born an orphan too?”
“What the fuck are you talking about? Dize, you’d have gone straight to Elizabeth.”
Elena immediately scoffed.
‘Pig feed? Fuck.’
As Dize stammered, someone laughed.
“Ahahaha.”
It was Daisy, who had chosen to stay with Ian’s group as well.
True to her name, she had quite fair skin.
Ian asked her, “Daisy, why did you come here?”
“Mauk’s group… scared me.”
“Still, you’re amazing. You’ve endured this much as a woman. You’re like a flower, a flower that blooms again even after being trampled.”
Ian had only said it to look after a party member, but Daisy’s face reddened.
A handsome and exceptional boy like him was praising her.
“A-Amazing? I only followed behind you guys… And Elena’s a girl too!”
Ian firmly shook his head.
“I think Elena is less a female creature and more something else. Like a beast…”
Thud!
“Ghk.”
“Want to die? Is it because you haven’t been hit lately? You’re crossing the line.”
“Hahaha.”
Laughter rose around them.
Unlike the first day, they had grown somewhat accustomed to one another by the second.
Their life-or-death journey and the time spent constantly together had formed a bond.
Everyone knew it was because Ian had mediated and guided them when the group had begun to fracture.
‘He could’ve controlled everyone just by scaring them with magic…’
‘Ian’s a true leader.’
With Dize admiring Ian, the group drifted off to sleep.
Scrape. Crack. Scrape.
Whenever the distinctive sounds of the undead came through the blizzard, they put out the fire.
Once it became quiet, they lit it again.
That was possible thanks to Elena’s sharp elf hearing.
Even an igloo was not warmer than a cave, so they had to sleep close together to keep warm.
The problem was…
“I can’t breathe…”
Ian slept with Daisy and Elena pressed against either side of him.
Dize slept alone.
“C-Can’t I join you too… Ugh…”
“Get lost, Dize. You’re ugly.”
“Fuck.”
Elena adamantly refused to sleep beside Dize, so he had to shiver alone in the cold.
Ian, on the other hand, felt like he was dying for a different reason.
‘This bitch Elena…’
Flowers on both sides.
It was the kind of situation any man would want, but Ian did not enjoy it.
More precisely, Elena was the problem.
Her sleeping habits were no joke.
“Mmmnya…”
Thud!
“Argh!”
* * *
The next morning, Ian finished Memorize with a bruise on his face from Elena’s sleeping habits. He grabbed her hair firmly.
“Elena.”
“Yeah?”
“Get ready.”
Everyone looked like beggars after camping in the field, yet Elena’s face was still smooth and radiant.
It was an elven trait.
What an absurdly overpowered race.
“Ready for what?”
Elena sprang up and asked with a yawn.
“Mauk’s group. We’re going to collect their gear and bags of food.”
They did not know how far away the Labyrinth City was, so the more food they had, the better.
‘Of course, there’ll be undead there…’
They would eventually encounter them on the way to the city anyway.
If so, it might be better to gain practical experience in a fight of their own choosing first.
‘Reality and games are different.’
“Grrrk. Fine.”
“M-Me too…”
Daisy wanted to come along after hearing that, while Dize did not want to go. Still, he started to speak because he felt he ought to.
Ian shook his head.
“We shouldn’t draw unnecessary attention, so it’ll just be the two of us. If we don’t return after a day, you two leave first.”
“…You have to come back.”
With that, only Ian and Elena left the igloo and headed for the ruined village where Mauk’s group had stayed.
As they traveled, Elena spoke as if it were a hassle.
“If we were going to do this anyway, shouldn’t we have cut them down before splitting up with them?”
She meant that if Mauk’s group was going to die anyway, would it not have been better to kill them first and take their food in advance?
‘What kind of thought process is that?’
“No matter how rude they were, they were still immature kids, and we’d spent years together. Could you kill them like monsters?”
It was a cold but rational judgment.
Still, Ian spoke of the weight of life.
‘They get angry, apologize, and feel guilty too.’
Maybe things would have been different on the other side of a monitor, but after entering this world, it was not easy to treat people as bundles of data.
Elena’s answer surprised him.
“Hmm, if you’d told me to?”
…
“Then our relationship with Dize and Daisy wouldn’t have become as good as it is now. They would’ve been wary and afraid of us. That would’ve meant the party was about to split…”
“Then we kill those two too. Think how much more food we’d have.”
Ian was speechless for a moment.
Just yesterday, they had been chatting and laughing together, yet Elena had such terrifying words on her lips.
Her green eyes watched him quietly.
As if she only needed him.
“Just kidding. Let’s go!”
Elena smacked his shoulder.
Ian gripped his staff tightly and shook his head.
What a frightening bitch.
Footnotes:
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