WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Ceaseless
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Dungeon Gallery's Terrifying Newbie ◈
Chapter 38: Helper (4)
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13:05
A Faceless Teacher appeared in the classroom.
Max had broken the teacher's rules, and one arm had been fractured as punishment.
"......"
Cold sweat ran down Max's face.
The pain was terrible.
So was the situation.
But Max couldn't scream or cry out.
Yuben's Dungeon Walkthrough came to mind.
Follow the rules, and you won't be harmed.
Follow the rules, and you can move forward.
Think back to Maharaurava.
There had been no rules there.
They had simply been forced to suffer.
At least this dungeon gave them room to breathe.
Wasn't it practically insisting there was a way to survive?
Don't stop thinking.
Max had to figure out the rules somehow and get through this safely.
"Hngh, huu, hngh...."
Luka, sitting beside Max, didn't look well.
Maybe she was terrified. She looked completely shaken.
That was understandable.
Her arm had broken as soon as they arrived in Area 2.
Even Max never wanted to experience the pain of a broken bone again.
Luka already knew that pain. This thing must have seemed even more frightening to her.
There was one fortunate thing.
-Max. Since the Communication Magic is still active, I'll assume you're alive for now. If you can't speak at the moment, clear your throat once. If you can't even do that, press your uvula once.
Quick-witted Denrid kept talking to Max.
"There are a lot of absentees today. Are Max and Luka the only ones present...?"
Fortunately, the teacher didn't seem aware of the Communication Magic.
Max gently pressed his uvula.
-From now on, press your uvula for YES. Don't press it for NO. I'll give you ten seconds to answer. If you agree, press your uvula once. Agreement confirmed.
-Is the Minion that appeared in the classroom a student? It isn't. Then is it a professor? Correct.
Of course, Max couldn't properly communicate with Denrid, so it was doubtful whether he could draw any useful conclusions.
-There's a high chance class is in session. Is that correct? Confirmed. It's difficult to judge your situation with only YES or NO, but if I can figure something out from your voice and help, I'll do my best. Stay calm at all times.
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13:20
The teacher wrote something on the blackboard.
【■◈＠◆□◎●】
Unfortunately, Max couldn't read it.
The writing looked like a kind of scribble.
Worse still:
"This problem is about how a male murderer has one very large kitchen knife, and the length of that large knife has a 'relative growth' relationship with the width of the dead victim. Do you understand? To estimate the length of a large victim using the width of the kitchen knife, I measured kitchen knives of various sizes and the lengths of large skulls to secure a large number of ordered entrails. Then, if we analyze it by placing values corresponding to the width of flesh chunks and the lengths of large bones on the horizontal and vertical axes of the graph, in the same way as the asdfjlkasdjfoia graph......"
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
It felt like watching some impossible scene from a dream.
Listening to that voice made Max's mind go blank.
Luka was the same.
"Hngh, huu, hngh...."
Luka's face had turned pale.
Her breathing had been irregular for a while now.
Anxiety had sent her into hyperventilation.
She kept trying to take deep breaths.
But there was no way she could calm down.
'The only thing I can do right now is...'
To avoid receiving a warning, Max had to pretend to be a model student listening attentively.
That was all.
"Luka?"
Luka's body flinched.
Her breathing was still unstable. She clasped her trembling hands over her knees and barely nodded.
"Answer the teacher's questions."
"Y-yes, t-teacher, huu...."
"About the problem Teacher explained earlier, why don't you stand up and give us the answer, Luka?"
"Th-the answer?"
Luka froze.
'The answer?'
There was no way that insane gibberish the bastard had just spewed out had an answer.
Luka remained still.
She had no choice but to remain still.
Her mind seemed to have gone completely blank.
What was she supposed to say in this situation?
What could she do to keep her bones from breaking?
Even Max didn't know.
"Could it be that Luka wasn't paying attention to Teacher's lesson?"
At least, Luka's choice to do nothing didn't seem to be correct.
"YoufuckingbitchIexplaineditsohardrightinyourfaceandyoustillcan'tunderstandaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
Crack!
Luka's broken arm snapped again.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
"HowmuchofajokedoyouthinkIamforyoutoactlikethatismyclassthatboringImateacherwhoalwaysworkssohardforyouandifyouactlikethiswhatamIsupposedtofuckingdoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!!"
Her scream mixed with the teacher's shriek.
Driven half-mad by the horrible pain, Luka rolled across the floor.
Dust clung to her body, but she didn't care.
"A warning."
"Aaah, uugh, aaah...."
"If you don't sit down right now, that will be another warning. Ten, nine, eight, seven...."
Still babbling incomprehensibly through tears, Luka barely managed to pull herself together and sit back down.
Max could hardly bear to witness the cruel scene.
"I'll resume class. This time, I hope you'll pay attention to my voice."
The teacher's incomprehensible questions continued after that.
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13:40
『♪─♪─♪』
『Ding-dong-daeng─♪dong-ding─♪』
『Ding-dong-daeng... daeng... daeng....』
The teacher disappeared after saying they would meet again.
Max had received one warning.
Luka had received three.
Luka's right arm was bent and swollen grotesquely, to the point where it seemed impossible for it to ever return to its original shape.
Luka slowly slumped from the chair to the floor.
Max checked on her.
Fortunately, Luka was still conscious.
"It huuuurts...."
"Luka."
Luka's mind seemed completely shattered as well.
Max let out a sigh.
-Max, are you alive!?
"Yeah."
-I'm sorry. There was nothing I could do to help...
"Should we gather for a while? Let's rest and discuss what just happened. Judging by when it appeared, I don't think the teacher will show up again immediately."
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14:40
A fourth-floor classroom.
The party reunited safely.
"Oh, that arm... We need to get a Healing Potion as soon as possible."
"Uugh...."
While Denrid checked Luka's condition, Jack and Max discussed the teacher.
"It's the same as that bitch who confiscated our belongings. It wears a suit, though, and it's taller. And what was that word for when someone's mood goes up and down?"
"Mania?"
"Yeah. It had really extreme mood swings, like someone in a manic state. Though I don't know if mood swings is the right phrase for a teacher whose face we can't see."
Jack crossed his arms.
"If you make noise, it breaks part of your body and gives you a warning. The same happens if you can't answer a question during class?"
"Yeah. The lesson was completely impossible to understand. It wasn't teaching any kind of subject. It just went on and on with nonsense...."
"Hmm."
Jack looked at Max suspiciously.
What was with that look?
"My academic background might be poor, but I can still tell whether something is normal education or not."
"Sorry for misunderstanding. Is your arm all right?"
"Don't worry about pointless things. We need to figure out that teacher's rules first. Nothing comes to mind?"
Rules.
Or, to use a word more fitting for dungeon experts, a strategy.
"Hmm... Bring a great mage?"
"Why?"
"...Wouldn't someone that smart be able to figure it out somehow?"
"Knowledge and wisdom are different things. Besides, that's not a method we can use in this situation."
"I really don't know. For now, don't talk during class. Pay attention to the lesson. Stay seated? If the warning stacks reach a certain number, you die?"
Denrid cautiously spoke to Jack and Max.
"Next time we meet it and get another question, just try saying anything."
"Huh?"
"That Teacher asked questions that were impossible to solve. Looking at it the other way around, saying the answer to the problem isn't the correct answer. Let's consider every possible thing we can do when dealing with the Teacher during class. Even a wrong answer is still an answer."
That made sense.
Max rubbed his chin in admiration.
"Are you a genius?"
"There's a reason Denrid is a mage."
"Thank you for the compliment. But this is a problem. I'm already starting to get thirsty...."
"Once we get a Magic Stone, I'll buy you a cold beer. Just hold out."
"Hey, Max. Buy wine, not beer."
"Did you leave your money with me?"
"Back in the slums, other people's money is my money."
"Unbelievable."
The atmosphere was still normal.
But Luka hadn't said a single word besides groaning since then.
It was unclear whether they would find drinking water or food anytime soon.
They couldn't delay any longer.
'We have to get to the Faculty Office somehow.'
It wasn't just Max.
They all must have been thinking the same thing.
* * *
psychward_mvp: Living with a disability vs dying
└ whaleyeah: I'd prefer the former, but someone who makes a living through physical labor might choose the latter.
└ whaleyeah: What the hell is she supposed to do now? She won't be able to hunt monsters anymore...
└ psychward_mvp: They chose this dungeon, so they need to endure through sheer willpower. High risk, high return, yeah.
└ psychward_mvp: Do you think a Dungeon Master goes easy on people after checking who they are? Once they enter, they're all intruders.
└ anonbutcher: The key is how the intruders treat the injured person...
└ anonbutcher: If they care for her, their exploration will slow down even more, and the situation will swing in newbie's favor.
└ skullbones: But they don't have water or food right now, so I don't know... Won't they leave her behind?
└ skullbones: Looking at it this way, I honestly think keeping her alive is more efficient from the Dungeon Master's perspective. LOL.
└ skullbones: Looks like her mind broke too, so there's a higher chance she'll cause trouble, yeah.
I lay on top of Malrang and looked at the monitor.
Their teamwork was better than I expected.
It felt like they were almost the first people to properly work together in my dungeon.
orange★: You're not thinking anything weird, are you?
└ newbie: Not at all. Hehe;;
Well, that was how it was.
Unfortunately, since those bastards were intruders who had come with malicious intent to take my life, it was a Dungeon Master's duty to lead them to Hell with everything I had.
Footnotes:
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