WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: DereKimchi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Abandoned Tank is a Disaster-class Awakener ◈
Chapter 33
──────
Korea's losses were severe.
One of Busan's central districts had been swallowed by the Abyss, with the number of missing people alone reaching around 35,000.
In response, the Korean Awakeners Association released a statement.
“We will swiftly bring this Abyss crisis to an end as a world-class Awakener power.”
“Our elite Raid Party has arrived on-site and will begin the raid with rescuing residents as its highest priority.”
Of course, Park Jun-hyeok was among those ten elites.
Though his reputation had recently been overshadowed by Kang Seong-un's, he was still the ace of South Korea, an Awakener powerhouse.
He possessed Weapon Master, one of the highest-ranked abilities currently known, as well as a level and artifact grade that placed him among the world's foremost Awakeners.
He had also recently conquered the 33rd floor, proving that South Korea still stood at the forefront of the Tower.
It was only natural that he would be appointed to a ten-person Raid Party, and as its leader at that.
The Korean Abyss Raid Party's progress after entering the Abyss was smooth.
The tank held the line.
A red-shelled monster rammed into the shield.
Bang!
The tank's feet slid back slightly, but the formation held.
Park Jun-hyeok's sword slipped into the opening.
An exposed joint beneath the hard shell.
Shhk.
As the blade pierced through, flames struck the monster from behind.
Kraash!
The monster flipped over.
Finally, a spear pierced its belly.
[You have defeated a Corrupted Monster.]
[Temporary Enhancement Effect: Increased Attack Power.]
Park Jun-hyeok flicked his sword.
“Good. Let's explore while picking up enhancement effects like this.”
They did not yet know what this Abyss contained, so they would raise their combat strength as much as possible while proceeding methodically.
Park Jun-hyeok's decision was textbook.
But then.
[Occupation of the Key Stronghold ‘Corrupted Mine’ has begun.]
[The location of this stronghold will be revealed.]
Far in the distance.
Kwoooaaar!
A pillar of blue light shot into the sky.
“A stronghold?”
He had seen it in the earlier message.
Securing these strongholds was important to clearing the Abyss.
“Move. We'll approach the pillar of light and check it out.”
* * *
The closer they came to the mine, the more footsteps they heard.
They did not belong only to the Korean Raid Party.
Black figures leaped across the cliffs.
Long ears hidden behind ash-gray skin and silver hair.
They carried short bows and curved blades.
From the forest on the opposite side emerged beings with skin like tree bark.
Leaves and slender branches sprouted through their hair.
Flap.
Small wingbeats sounded in the air.
Pixies scattering glittering dust flew over the ruined buildings.
Their tiny hands held needle-thin spears and crystal orbs.
On the ground, warriors with horned beast heads dragged axes behind them.
There was also a four-armed species whose bodies were covered in carapace.
On a ridge farther back, Elf archers in green armor stood spread apart.
“They're... not monsters?”
One of the healers caught their breath.
“...”
Park Jun-hyeok could not answer either.
They were different from ordinary monsters.
They checked one another's weapons, avoided lines of fire, and watched their companions' positions.
One of the ash-gray-skinned beings raised a bow.
Clack.
The tank warily raised their shield.
The air grew taut.
Then.
[Time Until Stronghold Occupation: 03:41]
Everyone turned toward the mine.
Park Jun-hyeok spoke quietly.
“Don't fight. Stopping the occupation comes first.”
Someone was already occupying the mine.
If they wasted time outside, the stronghold would become that person's.
“...”
The other species appeared to reach the same conclusion.
They did not lower their weapons.
Instead, they shifted their aim slightly and entered the mine by different paths.
* * *
Broken guards were scattered throughout the mine tunnel.
Step.
Park Jun-hyeok walked through the area, examining the wreckage.
“...!”
The cut surfaces were far too smooth.
But he had no time to study them for long.
A cavern soon appeared.
At its center, beneath a blue crystal, stood a man.
Black martial attire.
A cloth sash around his waist.
A single unadorned sword.
The handsome man, with skin as pale as if it had never seen sunlight, guarded the cavern alone.
“...”
Standing beside the crystal, the man only turned his head.
His gaze soon met that of the Korean Raid Party.
Yet even as he watched them approach, his expression did not change.
If anything, a faint smile seemed to form on his lips.
“...Just one person?”
Park Jun-hyeok muttered in confusion.
Then.
Step. Step. Step.
Other species appeared from mine tunnels in every direction.
And all their eyes naturally turned toward the man in black martial attire.
No companions were in sight.
He truly was alone within the occupation area.
[Time Until Stronghold Occupation: 02:10]
Park Jun-hyeok gestured to the shield-bearing tank.
Once their defensive formation was complete, he spoke.
“Pull him away from that crystal. Prepare ranged attacks.”
Enemies filled the area.
But it was clear who they needed to deal with first.
The other species appeared to think the same.
Thwack!
An arrow from another Raid Party flew first.
Roots burst through the floor.
Flames and beams of light engulfed the man.
At that moment.
Shing.
The sword left its sheath.
Park Jun-hyeok thought the man had taken a single step.
Sliiide.
The figure left before the crystal blurred.
At the same time, black robes appeared behind the axe-wielding warrior and beside the ash-gray-skinned archer.
His eyes could not follow the movements.
Slice.
A single flash crossed the cavern.
Arrows in midair split apart.
The rising roots tilted.
Thud.
The warriors' bodies collapsed.
Thud. Thud.
The Pixies on the ceiling fell with their wings spread.
The flames still burned the afterimage before the crystal.
“Blo...!”
The tank raised their shield.
A supporter's light settled over it.
And over that.
Shhk.
A silver line passed.
The upper part of the shield slid away.
The two tanks standing behind it crumpled.
“Damn it!”
Park Jun-hyeok raised his sword.
He did not know where to aim.
In front of him.
Beside him.
Afterimages of the black-clad man remained everywhere.
The back of his neck went cold.
He instinctively threw himself aside.
Slice!
His shoulder burned.
Clang!
His sword fell from his hand.
Park Jun-hyeok rolled across the ground and gritted his teeth.
“Argh!”
“Ghk!”
Screams rang out.
Before one ended, the next voice was cut short.
When he raised his head, the man had already turned his back.
Drip.
A drop of blood fell from the sword's tip.
Only then did bodies and weapons begin striking the floor all around him.
Thud, clang!
A sword slid to a stop at Park Jun-hyeok's feet.
Its owner lay fallen a short distance away.
Neither the tanks nor the damage dealers, nor any of the other species that had surrounded the area, moved.
Most of the Raid Parties that had filled the cavern moments ago were sprawled across the floor.
“Jun-hyeok!”
Someone pulled at him.
It was a healer.
The woman, who had somehow survived, pressed down on Park Jun-hyeok's shoulder.
“Don't move. We need to treat the wound first...!”
Fwoosh!
Healing light spread from her palm.
But Park Jun-hyeok did not look at his wound.
He stared only at the man in black martial attire.
The man slowly turned his head.
Toward the two people still breathing.
“...No.”
Park Jun-hyeok's lips trembled.
He had not blocked the attack.
He had not dodged it.
That sword simply had not finished him yet.
“Get a hold of yourself! We need to get out through the tunnel...”
The healer turned around.
One of the other species running toward the mine tunnel collapsed in front of the entrance.
Park Jun-hyeok saw it too.
Even if they ran, they would be caught.
Even if they blocked, they would be cut down.
If that sword moved again... he would be next.
His hand slipped inside his armor.
It closed around a cold handle.
【Cursed Dagger】
Grade: Unprecedented
Effect: In exchange for a living life, allows the user to escape to the safest area.
The artifact is destroyed upon use.
The healer gripped his arm tighter.
“Move!”
Park Jun-hyeok turned his head.
“...!”
Their eyes met.
She was the one who had stayed behind to save him.
All the others had fallen.
Now, only this one person remained at his side.
“...I, I have to live.”
The healer's expression froze.
“...What?”
Park Jun-hyeok drove in the dagger.
Thunk.
The healing light wavered.
“...?”
The healer looked down at her chest.
Then she looked at Park Jun-hyeok.
“...Why...?”
Park Jun-hyeok's hand trembled.
But he did not let go.
Instead, he pressed the handle in deeper.
“I, I have to live! I'm different from you people. I, I'm the chosen...”
His voice cracked.
The healer grabbed his wrist.
She tried to push him away.
But the dagger's black pattern spread across her skin.
The light went out in her hand.
Park Jun-hyeok did not look at her face until the end.
He only stared at the message before him.
Hurry.
Please, hurry.
[The sacrifice requirement has been fulfilled.]
[Executing forced escape.]
The healer's hand fell away.
At that moment, the man in black martial attire looked this way.
Park Jun-hyeok stopped breathing.
Shhk.
The instant the sword tip moved, his vision tore into darkness.
* * *
“Cough!”
Park Jun-hyeok rolled across the asphalt.
Cold air entered his lungs.
Sirens.
People shouting.
The Korean Awakeners Association's control line.
“A survivor!”
“Medical staff! Over here!”
Park Jun-hyeok crawled backward.
He could not take his eyes off the black boundary.
It felt as though the sword-wielding man inside would come out after him.
“Mr. Park Jun-hyeok! What happened to the other members?”
An Association employee dropped to their knees.
“What happened to the Raid Party?”
“...”
Park Jun-hyeok opened his mouth.
But no sound came out.
“...Only me.”
The words barely escaped him.
The employee leaned closer.
“What?”
Park Jun-hyeok clenched his trembling hand.
“Only I survived...”
His words trailed off.
He never said who he had killed to escape.
Then.
[The Korean Abyss raid has failed.]
[The penalty for raid failure is applied.]
[For the next 24 hours, entry into Abysses occurring in Korea is restricted.]
[The time limit for conquering the Korean Abyss has been reduced by 100 hours.]
The failure message cruelly confirmed Korea's defeat.
* * *
The Abyss was not a place like the Tower, where one defeated arranged monsters.
It was a battlefield where species living in dimensions we did not even know existed met amid cracks in space and fought over strongholds and resources.
I did not know why they had entered.
Whether they were trying to save someone, like us.
Whether they wanted resources.
Or whether they had an entirely different goal.
There was no way to find out, since neither speech nor writing could be understood.
But what I had to do was clear.
Claim the strongholds, raise the Abyss Raid Progress, and recover the people who had been swallowed.
And the price of taking that first step lay before me.
Wooooong!
The light rising from the crystal still pierced the ceiling.
The moment occupation began, the location was revealed.
There could be no clearer signal for those scouting nearby.
“...”
I looked in every direction over my shield.
The Dwarves pressed their shields together at the mine tunnel entrance.
But they were not all facing us.
The two at the end angled their shields toward the Lizardmen.
A crossbowman also aimed between them at a scale-covered body.
Sliiide.
A Lizardman's tail swept the floor.
The three in front lowered their spearpoints, while those behind them spread apart.
When one moved toward a side tunnel, the Dwarf's crossbow followed.
The footsteps stopped.
A small standoff was happening above us as well.
A Goblin moving along the work platform hid behind a pillar.
An arrowhead was aimed at the spot where their head had been moments earlier.
It was an Elf.
With their bowstring drawn, they waited for the Goblin to emerge again.
Two other Goblins lowered their hands to their waists.
The Elf's companion immediately raised a bow.
No one fired.
If they started fighting first, they would leave their backs exposed to the others.
Because they all knew that.
Among the killing intent directed at us, hostility between them was intertwined.
‘They're not here.’
Fortunately, I could not see them.
The beings etched in my memory as the terror of the Abyss before my regression.
Absolute powerhouses who had crossed over from the dimension called the Martial Realm.
Of course, I was confident in my current strength, but if they were here, the battle would clearly become difficult.
I could not help being wary of them.
But fortunately, there was no sign of them.
Then there was no need to worry.
[Time Until Stronghold Occupation: 02:53]
At that moment, the stronghold occupation countdown appeared again.
The occupation messages were not visible only to us.
One Dwarf flinched.
Their jaw tightened beneath their beard.
The Lizardmen's eyes returned to the crystal.
A Goblin hiding above poked its head out.
We stood within the circle.
Even while they kept one another in check, the occupation continued.
[Time Until Stronghold Occupation: 02:32]
Click.
The Dwarf's crossbow moved.
The bolt that had been aimed at the Lizardman stopped at my chest.
The spearman watching the side tunnel turned as well.
Their long spearpoint aimed beneath my shield, toward my legs.
The Goblins scattered across the platforms.
This time, the Elves did not stop them.
Their arrows followed Hye-won beside the crystal.
[Time Until Stronghold Occupation: 01:10]
Weapons from every direction aimed at us.
I raised my shield and lowered my sword's tip.
“Stay inside the circle.”
“Yes.”
Whoosh!
A bolt flew in.
Arrows, spears, and dark-red magic followed.
Hye-won extended her staff.
Kwoooaaar!
Cold split to either side of me and swallowed the cavern.
The front line's ankles froze.
Arms pushing shields stiffened.
Frost spread across the bodies of Goblins leaping down.
That brief instant was more than enough time for me.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
I pushed forward behind the shield that had taken the arrows, bolts, and magic.
As if erasing the distance, I closed in on the three Dwarves ahead.
They overlapped their shields.
Wooooong!
Golden enhancement effects covered the iron plates.
Then my body slammed into them.
Kraash!
Shields and armor folded at once.
Unable to withstand the impact, their bodies flew backward.
Before they could hit the floor, I swung my greatsword.
The greatsword's broad arc swept across the front line.
Crack!
Iron armor split apart.
[You have defeated a Raid Party member from another dimension.]
[You have obtained 100P of Abyss Points.]
A Lizardman beside me spun their spear.
It was still aimed at the place where I had been.
But before they could even realize it, I had already arrived beside them.
Shhk.
I swung my sword back.
The scale-covered bodies bent in the same direction.
Rumble!
Roots burst from beneath my feet.
Binding magic cast by the Elves.
I drove the greatsword into the ground, then gripped the roots with my right hand.
Craaaack!
The roots tore out along with the stone slabs.
Then I swung them like a whip.
Bang!
The charging warriors were swept away.
As the Elf in the back staggered, Hye-won's Ice Spear flew past it.
Crack!
The healer Elf struck by the Ice Spear became a block of ice.
Bang!
Pulling out my greatsword, I kicked off the ground again.
A finger pulling a trigger.
An arm raising an axe.
Lips about to part.
I took in every one of those fleeting moments as I passed through them.
Bang!
I shoved with my shield.
Shhk.
I cut with my sword.
Only after the weapons raised to block me broke did their eyes follow me.
By then, I was already cutting down the next body.
“...!”
Realizing they could not stand against us, they tried to flee.
But.
Saaaaa...
Hye-won's cold energy extended into the next mine tunnel.
The fleeing feet were caught.
Crash!
One of them desperately shattered the ice.
But before they could pull free, my sword passed through.
An Elf beside them raised a bow.
The moment the string went taut.
Bang!
I crushed them with the Black-Iron Shield.
Bow and body were driven into the wall together.
Then the sword that followed ended its final movement.
[You have defeated a Raid Party member from another dimension.]
[You have obtained 100P of Abyss Points.]
...
Messages about obtaining Abyss Points filled my vision.
“...”
I shook my sword once and looked around.
Everyone who had aimed at us from every direction had fallen.
Hye-won still stood beside the crystal.
[Time Until Stronghold Occupation: 00:01]
Wooooong!
The crystal's light swept through the cavern.
[You have occupied the Abyss Mine.]
[Abyss Raid Progress has increased by 10%.]
Multiple Raid Parties had attacked us, but we had held them off and occupied the mine safely.
As a result, our Abyss Raid Progress had increased through claiming a key stronghold.
Some of the people trapped in the Abyss would now be released.
But it did not end there.
[The mine's resources have been activated.]
Crack.
Cracks appeared throughout the rock walls.
Red ore rose from the split gaps.
Blue crystals branched out beside it, and thin lines of golden ore veins ran across the ceiling.
The cavern, which had been black and rough only moments ago, was dyed in lights of many colors.
Hye-won looked up.
“Can all of these really be gathered as resources?”
“It's our stronghold now.”
I examined a nearby ore vein.
Minerals that were difficult to find even a single piece of in the Tower.
Of course, just as with herbs, mining ore required a specialist.
Then.
「...It is an interesting place.」
Flap.
A parasol opened beside my shoulder.
Silver-gray hair flowed beneath black lace.
Like the Herb Spirit, the Ore Spirit had been hiding nearby.
She lightly adjusted the hem of her dress, then slowly looked over the space from ceiling to floor.
Her gaze stopped before a red ore vein and narrowed slightly.
「The surface is rough, but the grain within is quite fine.」
“Can you mine it?”
She turned toward me.
「Of course, My Lord.」
The parasol handle spun half a turn at her fingertips.
Click.
A violet magic circle spread behind her.
A pickaxe slid out from within it.
‘That's...?’
It was much larger than the one I had seen before.
Vine-like patterns wound around its silver handle, and its long, curved blade looked as though it had been made from transparent crystal.
A hammer, chisel, and awl floated up after it.
The cut faces at both ends of the hammer shone like gemstones, while a line of light fainter than a strand of hair flowed through the slender chisel.
They were larger, but their edges were even more delicate.
They looked less like tools and more like works of art displayed in a noble's treasure vault.
More than a dozen tools spread behind her like a fan.
She raised her gloved index finger.
Wooooong.
The tools moved toward the ore vein at once.
The largest pickaxe stopped before the rock wall.
I expected it to strike down roughly.
But instead.
Tap.
Its tip touched a single point.
A thin crack ran along the edge of the ore.
Two chisels immediately slid into the gap.
As small hammers struck in turn, only the unnecessary stone was peeled away in thin layers.
A red crystal emerged intact.
There was not a single scratch on it.
The Ore Spirit lifted her chin in satisfaction.
Leaning the parasol against her shoulder, she moved her fingertips.
The separated crystal floated into the air.
「It would be a problem if we left a scratch on such precious raw ore, would it not?」
Red light spread across her pale face.
「A place that holds ore of this caliber, and decent tools besides.」
The Ore Spirit looked at me.
「I believe you may look forward to today, My Lord.」
A deep smile formed on the little spirit's lips.
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