WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Ceaseless

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Dungeon Gallery's Terrifying Newbie ◈

Chapter 60: Destruction of Evidence

──────

Icarus's hand trembled.

No matter how forcefully he brought his sword down, it was meaningless.

'Why...?'

Until now, there had been nothing he couldn't cut.

Icarus's sword, one of the finest in existence and destined to become the greatest, was useless.

"Fuck, fuck...!!"

His talent, his effort, and the faith he had always had in himself were shattering to pieces.

"Die, die, die, die!!"

Icarus roared.

It sounded more like a plea.

"I'm Icarus, a Swordmaster of the North Kingdom! I don't know what cowardly trick you're using, but it ends now!"

Icarus gathered every last bit of Mana in his body.

The Mana generated by his heart rapidly circulated through his bloodstream.

He would kill that thing that denied everything he was.

That emotion alone filled this strike.

Sword Aura. A killing blow.

Thinking it could withstand this would be a clear miscalculation.

It could move.

Yet it hadn't even tried to attack.

"I'll take that arrogant statue's head off with a single blow."

"I'll lend you my Mana!"

"I'll support you!"

Icarus wasn't alone.

The elves joined in as well.

The sword came down from above.

A thunderous boom rang out.

Dust obscured their vision.

A violent gust swept over the group.

Cheers of victory rose behind him.

They were clearly overjoyed.

"Did we get it!?"

"No matter how tough it is, it couldn't have withstood that attack!"

But.

Icarus's expression only grew more desperate.

'I couldn't even leave a scratch...?'

His senses.

The experience he had built up over countless years.

They warned him that the statue was an insurmountable wall.

Icarus's sword had been denied.

Everything that could be called his entire life.

It was all useless.

His hands shook.

He no longer had the will to swing his sword.

The statue merely stared at him exactly as it had from the beginning.

His attacks didn't work.

It simply stood there.

Its hard eyes, filled with an eerie light, watched him.

There was no killing intent, hostility, or emotion of any kind.

An unknown pressure constricted his heart.

It didn't react.

The way it simply remained still was deeply bizarre.

In an instant, the hunter became the prey.

All Icarus could do was mumble emptily through the dust.

"This doesn't make sense. I've never heard of anything this, this, this strange..."

Before that statue.

Even the proud Swordmaster of the North Kingdom was nothing more than a helpless child.

Icarus blinked.

At that moment, his neck snapped with a crunch.

'Huh?'

He couldn't even react.

It happened in an instant.

Not even his exceptional dynamic vision had caught it.

He was being hanged.

Before he knew it, his body was dangling in the air.

The statue's hand gripped his neck.

His Aura disappeared.

Strength drained from his entire body.

His vision gradually darkened.

In a few seconds.

He would die.

Only Blessed Ones could overcome death.

He was merely an exceptionally strong human.

He blinked.

The despair on Icarus's face instantly turned calm.

All negative emotions, including anger and despair, vanished.

In the end, only relief remained.

At the very end, Icarus saw it.

He only saw it as death approached.

It was only an instant.

But he saw its true form.

The statue had turned back into stone.

Yet that was only a shell.

Like a brave adventurer cursed with petrification.

It was merely frozen solid.

That thing wasn't a simple statue.

It was something indescribable disguised as a statue.

Its form was something that shouldn't exist in this world.

What a relief.

What a relief.

It was truly fortunate that his neck had snapped and he would die here.

What a relief he wouldn't have to see anything else.

Because.

If he hadn't died.

He would have torn out his own eyes right there.

If that still wasn't enough.

He would have smashed his own head apart with his hands, the head that remembered its form.

.

.

.

The dust settled.

Icarus was dead.

"Ah..."

One by one, the elves who saw it dropped their weapons.

Giradriel did the same.

'T-this isn't right...'

This was strange.

It was truly strange.

There was no other way to describe it.

His mind felt numb.

That statue couldn't be affected physically.

It couldn't be affected by magic either.

Then how are we supposed to move forward?

The only option available to us was to turn around and run.

But.

That thing didn't even permit them to flee.

Crunch! Crunch!

As everyone screamed, turned around, and ran away.

It immediately snapped the elves' necks.

They were trapped.

Giradriel was the only one left, trembling in place.

"W-what, what am I supposed to do...?"

His pants were soaked.

Warm liquid ran down his legs.

With death right before him.

His heart pounded like mad.

Even percussion instruments couldn't be this loud.

"R-right... the Escape Scroll."

Right.

We had a way to escape the dungeon.

I had to use the Escape Scroll.

But could I really use it?

Honestly.

I'd die before I could even activate it.

'Think. Think. I need to think...'

Foolishly enough.

Giradriel only calmed down after losing everything.

There was one strange point.

Why didn't those statues move immediately?

They could snap our necks at a speed we couldn't react to.

Why were they standing still like that?

Unless those bastards enjoyed watching intruders suffer.

Wouldn't it make more sense to snap my neck right now and end this fucking Wave?

'Can't they snap someone's neck under certain conditions?'

Giradriel thought.

He looked back over everything that had happened and searched for the answer.

'They don't react to movement. They didn't attack even when Icarus was throwing a massive fucking tantrum.'

Very slowly... slowly...

He backed away.

I'll escape like this.

Once I get far enough away, even those statues won't be able to snap my neck.

The distance gradually increased.

Giradriel let out a sigh of relief.

It worked.

This would work.

'I'll use the Escape Scroll once I'm at a safe distance...'

He blinked without thinking.

The statues were suddenly right in front of him.

As if they had teleported.

They had moved too fast for him to perceive.

Cold fingertips touched his neck.

Giradriel screamed and fell onto his backside.

"AAAAAAAAAH!!"

Even then, his gaze remained fixed on the statues.

It was a simple coincidence.

You could call it extraordinary luck.

If he had squeezed his eyes shut in fear.

He would have met the same end as the other elves.

'I-I lived...?'

Then Giradriel thought of one possibility.

The answer was in his gaze.

'Could it be...?'

Those statues.

Couldn't move while I was looking at them?

Like Medusa's petrification.

It was worth trying.

It was the final gamble of his life.

Still.

He took a deep breath.

His mind calmed down.

Keeping his eyes on the statues.

He slowly pulled the Escape Scroll from his clothes.

Just as relief spread across his face.

An arrow flew at him from ahead.

It lodged in Giradriel's chest.

Elves had fairly good eyesight.

Green hair in twin tails.

It was a sniper shot from Aryong King, the Dungeon Master of Dino World.

It wasn't an instant death.

The Escape Scroll tore, and the only surviving elf escaped the dungeon.

.

.

.

.

.

"...A Poisoned Arrow...?"

The Healing Potion was useless.

The poison had spread through his entire body, numbing his senses.

Even an Antidote didn't work.

It had to be a high-grade poison the Dungeon Master had prepared as a trump card.

Giradriel collapsed forward.

He sensed his end.

There was no one at the camp.

The camp was far away, and the Dungeon Raid was nearly over.

They had come with a small elite force, and everyone had entered and died.

The only remaining option was to head for the city.

But he had no strength left in his body and couldn't even reach the camp.

It was impossible.

"..."

It had been so close.

He could have returned with the Magic Stone.

He regretted it.

Still, death wasn't all that frightening.

Perhaps his threshold had risen.

At least he was fortunate not to have died with his neck snapped by that thing.

Giradriel thought about what he could do with so little time remaining.

'Right. I need to leave information about that thing...'

Information about the statue that had wiped them out.

One day, the World Tree Forest would learn that they hadn't returned and surely send an expedition.

So his comrades could find it then.

Giradriel wrote his final testament.

Please.

At least next time.

May his kin claim the Magic Stone.

* * *

【The Wave has been successfully defended.】

【Rewards will be calculated according to the difficulty.】

【Calculation complete.】

【The difficulty of this Wave is...】

.

.

.

─────

LV. 92

Class - Dungeon Master

Dungeon Theme - Anomaly

Population - 12/50

Device Count - 7/50

Point - 150000

STR - 95

DEX - 95

CON - 95

MP - 95

UN - newbie

UC - dm_6_666666666

─────

.

.

.

Now I finally understood why there was no income.

If I supported another dungeon's Wave, I got rewards too.

Was this another Anomaly privilege?

It was less than a normal Wave reward, and even much less than what secha got.

Still, I wasn't operating at a loss.

Anyway, a successful Wave defense.

How far did the System consider "defense" to extend?

Even if the Anomaly didn't defeat any enemies itself, would I still receive rewards as long as the Minion was inside another dungeon?

There was no contribution rating or anything like that for Waves in the first place, so wasn't it enough to just get carried?

If rewards could be shared just by installing something.

Anomalies were seriously fucking overpowered.

"Good work, Goblin."

"Krruk..."

I gave the Goblin, which had made the greatest contribution in this Wave, expensive-looking jewelry and dried food.

Half a day had passed.

I set the Goblin as a Minion and sent it outside the dungeon.

It would retain its memories in that case.

But it couldn't speak anyway, so it should be fine.

"Sorry for dragging you here without saying anything! Take that and go back to your friends!"

Malrang and I waved at the Goblin that had worked so hard.

The Goblin waved back.

Was this what bonding felt like?

It made me feel strangely warm.

I canceled its Minion setting.

I probably wouldn't see it again.

But I hoped it wouldn't get hunted by Dwarves and would live happily.

Now then.

Should I wrap this up?

"Malrang, give me a ride."

"Elk."

.

.

.

Information was an Anomaly's weakness.

The areas where the Ink Rat and Memory Cat could operate were limited to Dreamland.

secha had said he regrettably let one person get away in his post.

The elf had been hit by a Poisoned Arrow.

It was a poison he had never used before.

He had definitely said it would kill the elf.

Still.

It was better to finish everything without leaving any loose ends.

I found the elf's corpse near the entrance to Dino World.

As expected, there was a final testament on the body.

「Never take your eyes off that thing.」

What a shame.

I had no intention of leaving this as it was.

If the elves didn't let go of their greed.

They would have to experience Hell next time too, and the time after that.

"Malrang, eat it."

"Elk."

Malrang devoured the elf's corpse.

It seemed to want to return to Dreamland and swelled its body.

"Wait a little. secha said he has a gift to thank us for helping, so let's get that first."

We leisurely left the area.

And so, every record disappeared.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried