WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈

Chapter 8: In the Snowfield

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A world where winter never ended was filled with dangers, from savage beasts to brutal weather.

But if that had been all, humanity would have found a way.

They still had magic, the remnants of a once-brilliant civilization, and courage.

Yet they had become as isolated as rabbits in their burrows.

Because of the Winter-Cursed.

They were commonly called the Frozen Dead.

Draugr.

They wandered this snow-covered world endlessly, unable to feel hunger or fatigue.

They tracked warmth and hunted the living.

Where there is one, there will soon be two. When there are two, there will soon be three.

While we take ten steps, they take three. While we rest, they take three. Even when our pace slows, they take three steps. Forever.

That was why even the Northern Hunters, hardened by the bitter cold, never left the safe zones.

Facing them was the quickest path to an early grave.

"But that isn't a problem for this genius mage."

As we neared the ruined village, the blizzard weakened.

The chill radiating from the Winter-Cursed even drove away the weather itself.

'It's how they lure in survivors, too.'

'To be safe, we need to stay at least forty meters away.'

Blinking against the biting cold, I motioned to Elena.

The undead varied from one individual to another, both in strength and behavior.

Frozen Warriors were swift, Draugr Hunters were relentless, and Draugr Mages were cunning.

Our Elena was a half-baked failure who couldn't even become a hunter because of her trembling hands, but as an elf, her eyesight and hearing were outstanding.

We'd use that to scout first.

"I see a few. They're Draugr."

Elena shielded her narrowed eyes with one hand, probably because the glare bouncing off the snow was blinding.

"What are they wearing?"

"I don't see anyone with armor or weapons... Ah, there's someone from our village, too."

"Who?"

"Kevin. He's already dead. One of his arms was ripped off."

I could only make out vague figures, so her eyesight really was incredible.

"Then they're just villagers who froze to death..."

There were no dangerous ones.

Ordinary Draugr were dangerous too, of course, but they were manageable compared to the others.

The problem was the ones buried beneath the snow.

'I have a way to deal with that.'

"Block the wind for me."

"Do you think I can? Look at how small I am."

Even while shivering, Elena spread her clothes wide to shield me from the wind as I used flint to light a torch.

Fwoosh...

The flame was weak, as if it might die at any moment in the frigid air, but that didn't matter.

Even the faintest warmth drew the Frozen Dead in.

A veteran player's aggro trap.

Slosh. Slosh.

"O-oh, they're coming!"

"Throw it as far as you can, Elena!"

"Take this!"

Elena threw the torch.

The one wandering near the village, along with several hidden beneath the snow, staggered to their feet and moved toward it.

"They really were hiding... If we'd gone straight in, they would've spotted us."

Elena looked at me with renewed admiration.

'Mauk's group clearly stayed in there, and then something must've gone wrong.'

While they were distracted, we entered the village.

We headed toward the relatively intact house where Mauk's group had probably stayed.

"Elena. Tell me now if you can't do this."

The key to this operation was whether my magic worked against them and how well Elena could fight them.

If Elena, our front line, went down, I was done too.

All my talent must have gone into magic, because my physical abilities were pathetic.

"..."

Elena remained silent, gave my head a light tap, then picked up her club.

"Do you think I'd back out? I'm more afraid of starving."

She said that, but she couldn't hide her own tension.

Her long ears kept twitching.

Rather than use the front door, we looked inside through a wide hole in the wall.

Faint daylight lit the interior.

Dried blood and scraps of flesh clung to the floor, while a pot with its contents spilled out hinted at the desperate situation from the night before.

At the center of it stood a dark figure, swaying.

...

It was Jack.

The one who had always worn a cheerful smile greeted us with half of his head crushed and his neck twisted.

He held a bloodied spear tightly in a hand missing its index finger and thumb.

"..."

A Draugr.

An undead that had risen again.

This wasn't like fighting wolves.

The cold that seeped into my bones, his grotesque shape, the instinctive fear any living creature couldn't help but feel... I swallowed hard.

'Fuck, seeing one in person is no joke.'

Elena seemed to feel the same way. She hesitated.

"..."

I pulled myself together.

I was a genius mage.

A veteran of this garbage game, the genius mage Ian.

Repeating that to myself drove away the fear.

Gripping Elena's shoulder, I mouthed, “There’s only one.”

Hadn't Mauk's group consisted of three people?

The problem was that Mauk wasn't here.

'There isn't anywhere to hide in this place.'

As I thought, I tightened my grip on my staff.

You couldn't eliminate every variable in real combat.

“I’ll go first,” I mouthed.

The only way to kill a Draugr was to destroy its head.

I aimed at Jack.

No, at the undead he had become, and cast my spell.

Whoosh!

A sharp Ice Spike struck Jack squarely in the head.

But instead of cheering, we froze in dismay.

Grrrk...

It had clearly hit his head, yet it had only gouged away some flesh. Jack turned toward us with the chunk of ice still stuck to his head.

"You talked big, and you couldn't even kill that?"

"Fuck, if it had been fire, I would've got him in one hit."

I had an excuse.

Draugr had high resistance to Frost.

That was why water and Frost magic were considered weak in this world.

Grrrk!

With the sound of ice breaking, Jack advanced in a grotesque, jerking manner, like a ball-jointed doll.

Elena rushed at him first.

"Fuuuck!"

She screamed to drive away her fear.

Spear against club.

The reach difference put her at a crushing disadvantage, and a first real fight could make anyone freeze up.

But Elena's nerve and skill exceeded even my expectations.

She leaned back to dodge Jack's thrust, then swung her club into his head.

Thud!

The worst thing about Draugr was their inability to feel pain and the aggression that resulted from it.

Even after a blow that would have knocked an ordinary person unconscious, Jack only staggered before sweeping his spear sideways.

Elena was quick, almost graceful.

She lowered herself until she was nearly touching the ground, dodged the swing, then hooked Jack's leg.

The moment he crashed down, she climbed on top of him, pinned him with her weight, and began hammering him with her club.

Thud! Thud!

"Die! Die!"

"Elena!"

"Don't come over here! You'll get in the way! Grab the supplies!"

A fierce struggle broke out.

Even if I tried to help with a spell, there was a high chance I'd hit Elena too.

Draugr had little interest in human belongings.

Inside the wrecked house, the bags Mauk's group had dropped while fleeing were still there.

'Fox-Fur Hat and Fur Cloak!'

I gathered the food bags and scattered clothes while Elena fought.

"I'm... almost... done!"

Crack!

Elena won the struggle.

After twisting and breaking Jack's arm, she repeatedly smashed the spot where my Ice Spike had struck with her club.

Just as I finished collecting the bags and was about to call Elena, a dark shadow fell over the doorway.

A chill ran down my spine. I turned and saw another undead, its mouth stained with blood, standing there with a plow.

"There's another one!"

Elena answered only with a strained groan.

If I ran now, Elena would die.

And if she died, so would I.

I made my decision quickly, stepped in front of it, aimed my staff, and fired an Ice Spike.

This time, because it was moving, it only hit its chest.

Shit.

"Ian!"

'I should've aimed for the hand holding the weapon!'

It was a mistake born from my first real fight.

And now that mistake was about to get my head taken off by a plow.

At that desperate moment, a clear sound rang out as a coin spun.

Clink.

[Heads/Tails]

That damned coin had appeared again, weighing my fate.

'Heads? Tails?'

No. Not this time!

My mind snapped awake.

Unlike before, I chose nothing. Instead, I kicked off the ground and charged into the Draugr's arms.

Aaaah!

The frozen wooden handle of the plow, rather than its metal edge, struck my back.

It hurt like hell, but it saved my life.

[Insight]

[Retreat] [87% Chance of Death]

[Move Forward] [5% Chance of Death]

Words like that flashed through my mind.

I had survived, but my weak strength couldn't push it away.

Clack! Clack!

The farmer's teeth, crusted with frost and blood, snapped near my neck.

Pain sent adrenaline rushing through me, only for it to freeze solid.

The sudden terror and the cold pouring off it made every hair on my body stand on end.

'Fuck... Right. This isn't some game!'

Fights between weaklings were always the fiercest and hardest.

Grrrk!

The slippery floor made me fall over in the end.

I sparked electricity around my fingers, then jabbed them into the back of the Draugr's neck as it bore down on me.

Crackle!

Even so, it was relentless and savage.

Hack, hack, hack.

Its muscles spasmed and refused to obey it, but it still tried to tear me apart.

"Ghk."

At the very moment its hand closed around my throat and forced a groan from me...

Thud!

My vision suddenly cleared.

Elena had kicked it away.

"Die!"

Then she drove Jack's spear between the Draugr's eyes.

"Ian! Are you okay!?"

"I'm... cough, okay... It's getting up!"

Apparently, the spear hadn't reached its brain, because it staggered to its feet.

Fuck, the sight of it shuffling toward us with a spear stuck through its eye was another kind of horror.

"You zombie bastard..."

"We have to go! We've drawn too much attention!"

I grabbed the excited Elena and spoke.

But caught up in the thrill of her first fight, Elena's vision had narrowed. She didn't listen.

"I'm going to kill it!"

I slapped Elena's cheek and shouted at her.

Smack!

"Elena!"

...

"Sorry."

Only then did Elena come to her senses. She grabbed my wrist.

The two of us hurried out of the house, leaving the Draugr behind.

Crunch. Crunch.

My judgment had been right. If we'd delayed even a little, we would've died.

Perhaps the aggro had worn off, and the Draugr were already gathering there.

The skin on my neck, where the Draugr had grabbed me, had peeled as if I had frostbite.

"Tch."

It stung like hell, but the pain made me feel alive.

The moment we got far enough from the ruined village, all strength left my body and I burst out laughing.

"Ha... Hahahaha!"

[Ice Spike] x1

The number of Ice Spikes I could Memorize had increased by one.

The number of projectiles I could use had increased by one as well.

'Frost and water spells gain proficiency faster in similar environments.'

'The Frost those things gave off was no joke.'

The spell parchment wasn’t our only gain.

I had gained a spear and a wooden shield, along with Mauk's Fur Cloak and Fox-Fur Hat.

"Ah, warm. Hehe."

Elena was covered in wounds, but she seemed happy that the Fox-Fur Hat kept her ears from getting cold.

The Fur Cloak made me warmer too, and that put me in a good mood.

My first real fight.

A lot had gone wrong, but I had gained just as much experience.

I felt like I could do better next time.

Satisfaction swelled inside me.

The heavier food bags were a bonus.

'Fifteen potatoes. Two palm-sized pieces of jerky. Three Stone Breads.'

I felt bad for the dead, but this was a huge haul.

‘With this much, we could safely reach the Labyrinth City.’

* * *

"Ian... Elena!"

"I'm glad you came back alive... I-I was scared... Sniff!"

When we returned, Daisy and Dize welcomed us.

They had obeyed us, shivering in the cold without even lighting a fire. It was admirable.

"So you fought off both of them?!"

"That's amazing...!"

I told the two ordinary people, Daisy and Dize, all about my exploits.

"It was nothing to this genius mage, you know~"

"Hmph. What are you talking about? You just tossed some icicles around and couldn't even finish one of them off properly."

"You barbarian elf!"

Elena interrupted, but I didn't bother denying it.

The fighting ability she had shown against the Draugr was beyond anything I had imagined.

Her movements and instincts were impressive, but her greatest strength was her mental resilience.

That was probably the most important talent for the labyrinth we would enter.

'Those stupid villagers.'

They threw away someone this talented just because her hands shook!

And they threw me away too, a genius mage who could cast Ice Spike three times after only three days!

'You lost two once-in-a-millennium talents!'

"Then Mauk's group..."

"They're dead."

"..."

"I couldn't find Mauk's body, though."

We packed our things again and continued toward the Labyrinth City.

Whoooooosh!

"Fuck, doesn't it feel even colder?"

The temperature kept dropping as the faint tower in the distance drew closer.

"Stop. Draugr."

Their appearances were becoming more frequent too.

On days when the blizzard raged so hard that we couldn't see even an inch ahead, their figures were as faint as illusions.

Our sense of distance dulled, and before we knew it, they had gotten too close.

“Dize, Daisy!”

“Y-yeah!”

One was an easy victory, and even two were manageable.

As long as Dize and Daisy kept them in check with their spears, Elena and I could quickly kill one and then fight the other.

It was the importance of numbers that Mauk had overlooked.

Of course, that only applied to ordinary ones, such as Frozen Slaves or farmers.

If we encountered a Frozen Warrior, Draugr Mage, or Crossbowman, we had to run without question.

We had no chance against them at our current level.

Things went smoothly, but as we neared the Labyrinth City, the weather and the undead weren't our only threats.

First, we ran out of firewood for lighting a fire at night.

We tried to gather some ourselves, but something was wrong.

"A tree!"

"Great, we can get some firewood!"

"Stop!"

I stopped the three of them from rushing ahead and motioned for silence.

"...?"

"Look closely."

Strange grass-like growths surrounded the tree.

Just then, a deer wandered close.

Something unbelievable happened.

Screeeech!

The tree moved as if it were alive and seized the deer.

The deer struggled and coughed blood as sharp thorns pierced its body, while countless teeth emerged from beneath its hard, deadwood-like surface.

"What the hell is that..."

"Eek."

The dreadful sight filled us with a different kind of fear from the Frozen Dead.

As the others panicked, I explained what it was as an experienced player.

"It's a Man-Faced Tree."

That one was young.

The ones that had eaten many people and animals were even more horrifying.

The way to tell was...

"Look closely. See those red marks on its surface? They're the faces of the creatures it's eaten. That's how you can tell."

"Ugh..."

Of course, the reason I was certain was the coin.

When I encountered it, the coin had spun before my eyes.

But just like before, I didn't flip it.

'Why accept either the possible reward or the risk?'

'Depending on the situation, I can use it to detect danger, too.'

It was a tactic only I, the genius mage and protagonist of this world, could use.

"Let's go around."

Guided by this veteran player, the four of us continued marching for several days, avoiding all kinds of threats.

During that time, Daisy and I both came down with colds. I was the weak one, after all.

We couldn't even light a fire, so it was a wonder we hadn't frozen to death.

Cough, cough.

'Fuck! Why haven't I learned a new ice spell when it's this cold!?'

Even with a favorable environment, learning a new spell normally took at least several months.

But I wasn't some ordinary person. I was a genius mage.

'Give me a spell!'

The parchment gave no response.

To make matters worse, we finally ran out of food.

"..."

Yet our expressions were brighter than ever.

Had I learned a new spell?

No.

"I can see it..."

"Cough, cough. Are we there?!"

The tower, once only a faint outline, was now close enough to see with the naked eye.

In the distance, the imposing walls of the Labyrinth City, known as the final city, came dimly into view.

Footnotes:

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