WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 261: Valley of Death (7)

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What wore the soldiers down most here was their irregular sleep. The mutants kept coming day and night, but fighting at night was far more dangerous. Only a few could be off duty at a time, and even they had to remain on standby. Most of the rest had to make do with snatches of sleep inside Humvees.

Nor could they simply shut down the beacons at night. The operation's goal was not only to disrupt the mutant horde's activity, but also to lower the density of mutants in the rear area. That would create a relatively safe corridor between Olema FOB and the division. A supply route.

So Gyeoul tried to guarantee as much rest as possible. Still, many soldiers complained they could not fall asleep when it was time to sleep. They were often startled awake by gunfire too.

That was why the soldiers receiving rations in the dim early evening all looked so haggard.

Kra-boom!

Outside, the sky split open. They called it a thunderstorm, but no rain was actually falling. The temperature was so high that the thin raindrops evaporated in midair. Nearby lightning strikes, however, were frequent. Since the post sat on a mountain summit, the lightning rods were being struck without pause. The soldiers who had slept badly grumbled on top of that.

"Shit. Another Claymore must have gone off."

A soldier filling his tray grumbled. The sentence was in Korean, but the curse was in English.

Just as the soldier said, Gyeoul heard a different kind of explosion at the tail end of the thunder. The electric detonators on Claymores often malfunctioned when lightning struck. At Santa Margarita Lake, a soldier named Kunz had been killed by the backblast for the same reason. Now that everyone had been warned, the same accident should not happen again.

Corporal D'Angelo approached the table where Gyeoul was sitting.

"Running into the company commander here. Lucky me. Is this seat taken?"

"Help yourself."

With permission, she sat across from Gyeoul.

"I was looking forward to dinner today, and then it turned into this."

The Corporal's complaint was about the menu. Gyeoul gave a faint smile.

"The helicopters cannot take off, so there is not much we can do."

The weather had worsened right when the ingredients were supposed to be airlifted in. The original plan had been sirloin steak. Proof that command was doing its best to maintain morale.

"Hmm. So the steak is gone for good?"

"I am not sure. Skies like that usually do not last long. Let us just get through tonight."

At Gyeoul's words, Corporal D'Angelo let out a weary sigh.

"It is going to be a more tedious night than usual."

Both statements carried a second meaning. His "let us just get through tonight," and her "more tedious night than usual." For now, the temperature had not changed much, but the effect of the blocked sunlight would soon set in. It would still be a humid, hot night, but it would not be as bad as yesterday. The weather was grotesque.

Corporal D'Angelo thoroughly chewed and swallowed a piece of crisp bacon, took a sip of her drink, and asked,

"Have you heard the news?"

"What news?"

"The passenger plane from Japan."

"Ah."

Gyeoul nodded. Strictly speaking, he had read it rather than heard it. Though it went through censorship, a great deal of information still appeared on the military intranet within limited bounds. Plenty of it was never disclosed to civilians. As a Major, Gyeoul had high-level access. This place also had a reinforced satellite communication network. All he needed was a Net Warrior terminal.

"The Marines really are something, are they not? Surviving in that hell for more than a year... and protecting embassy staff and civilians on top of that. They are complete blockheads who only know the mission."

Here, civilians meant American citizens. There were no Japanese among the people they had rescued.

'So their expressions were not like that for no reason.'

In the photos Gyeoul had seen, everyone's face had been dark. Those were the traces of the necessary evils they had gone through. If they had endured only ordinary hardships, more of them should have been happy to finally return to their homeland.

"For this achievement, every member of the Embassy Security Guard in Japan and the FAST, the Fast Anti-terrorism Security Team detachment, will receive the Medal of Honor. But they said the ceremony will be held after Operation Burning Valley ends... I heard your ceremony is then too, sir. Is that right?"

"That is what they told me."

"Hmm. Whiskey Hotel must really want to hold a festival."

Whiskey Hotel, W H, was the phonetic code for the White House's initials.

That truly was the White House's intention. They kept announcing news of war heroes while delaying every ceremony until later. Even front-line officers, NCOs, and soldiers were beginning to look forward to it. Unofficially, people called it Heroes' Day, Victory Day, or the Day of Triumph.

Since more of the recipients were already dead than alive, it would be a festival as well as a memorial service.

D'Angelo was one of the people excited for it.

"I am really, incredibly looking forward to that day."

"..."

"Every time I hear news like this, it makes me feel so good. I know I should not already feel this way..."

This, too, had two meanings. It was not simply that she was happy in advance about a future festival. Gyeoul caught the shadow that briefly crossed the Corporal's face.

"It cannot be helped. You cannot keep crying forever just because you are sad. The living have to live."

That was what hope was. Forgetting was a condition for life. For people who had reached their limits.

The conversation broke off for a while.

"I once read a biography of a great person."

As she hacked apart an omelet that barely looked like an omelet, the Corporal started a new topic.

"Do you know Helen Keller?"

Gyeoul felt a sense of deja vu.

"Of course I do."

"Huh? Is it obvious that you would?"

It was a very American kind of confusion. Anyway, the Corporal continued.

"There was a really good quote in it..."

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of people overcoming it?"

"...Yes. That one."

A small, muttered wow. The Corporal looked shocked. Gyeoul said,

"No need to be surprised. A nun told me that not long ago."

"Ah, I see."

There was no need to add that he had already known it. The Corporal cleared her throat.

"The reason I brought it up is... even in a world like this, no, because this world is so damned awful, good news like that feels possible."

"There must have been good news in the old world too, but it feels bigger because the world is darker now. Like firefighters becoming heroes when they put out fires."

"Exactly. That is exactly what I was thinking. It feels like we live in an age full of heroes. Not heroes from comic books, but people who give you strength just by being in the same country. Though there are far more dead ones than living ones..."

This was why the U.S. government was as eager to publicize dead heroes as living ones. Those who died upholding their mission remained a comfort to the living, even after death.

"The executive officer said something similar."

"Captain Singh did?"

"Yes. It was something said while talking with the soldiers, and it stuck with me because it was unusual."

"What did Captain Singh say?"

"Um, if the world were filled only with light, we would not be able to distinguish it..."

As she spoke, the Corporal narrowed one eye and searched her memory.

"And then... Ah. There is darkness because there is light, and there is light because there is darkness. Those who do not know despair do not know hope either. Therefore, only those who are afraid can become brave. That was it."

The Captain must have wanted to encourage the company members.

After that, they chatted in brief spurts, like geysers. Around the time Gyeoul finished his meal, Foster's voice came from his radio.

[Company commander. We have a situation.]

No details followed. That meant it was not something to discuss outside the situation room. It did not seem serious enough to put the base on alert, though.

"I will be right there."

Gyeoul stood, carrying a tray with almost no leftovers.

"Sorry, but I need to go first."

"Yes, sir."

The Corporal, sensing the change, began eating at incredible speed.

When Gyeoul arrived in the situation room, Foster reported the abnormality.

"We have lost contact with Calpine 5."

"You mean the scheduled contact did not come?"

"No. They are not responding to communications from us or Marigold."

When Gyeoul heard that, the first thing that came to mind was the platoon of unknown affiliation that had been said to be approaching during the day. They also had not responded to communications. But the connection was no stronger than a crow taking flight and a pear falling from a tree.

"What are the chances this is temporary, caused by the bad weather?"

"None, sir."

Foster was firm.

"It is true that satellite communications are impaired, but bases other than ours are still maintaining contact with Marigold. More importantly, we and the other bases have tried wired contact as well, and that failed too. Laser communication is the same."

Before the operation began, the engineering corps had laid communication lines between each base. The laser communication system consisted of aligned lasers, sensors, and relays. They had prepared multiple communication channels in case something happened. They even had ordinary satellite phones, not military ones.

"I should say this first. The base does not appear to have fallen. There was a report that Calpine 6 observed flares from the direction of Calpine 5. They said three green flares were fired in a row at intervals."

Green flares naturally meant the base was safe.

"On top of that, the lure beacon is still operating continuously, so the base itself seems secure. Calpine 6 took a small risk and launched a drone, and they said the troop deployment also looked normal."

"But it is strange."

"Yes, it is strange."

Everything else was fine, but only the communication methods, every route at once, had gone down. What kind of situation caused that? If it had only been wireless, they would have assumed it was the work of a Trickster.

In any case, hearing that the base was safe let Gyeoul set aside one worry. If an infected person had been mixed in among the newly joined survivors, red flares would have been observed in sequence.

"Did you check the artillery request coordinates after the last contact?"

Foster immediately understood why Gyeoul was asking.

"Of course. No shells landed in the area where Calpine 5's communication lines pass. To begin with, while you were resting, every shell that fell was either RAAMS or ADAM. With weather like this, we cannot use Volcano. The mutant horde that approached during that time had a very low threat level."

RAAMS and ADAM were the names of shells that scattered anti-tank mines and anti-personnel mines, respectively. Volcano was the container mounted on helicopters to scatter mines.

'I hope this is not something troublesome.'

If satellite communications went down, Gyeoul would be the senior officer in this area.

Foster offered an opinion.

"Could this be the work of an enhanced variant Trickster?"

"Enhanced variant?"

"Yes. Those things manipulate electricity and magnetic fields, do they not? If one had unusual ability, it might have detected the lines buried underground. The optical signal relays too."

Detecting such thin conductors and such faint signals seemed beyond even a Beta grade. Still, to Gyeoul, it was the most plausible hypothesis for explaining the situation.

"Naturally, there were no abnormal radio wave reception records?"

"Nothing presumed to be from a Trickster."

"..."

Several symbols blinked on the tactical map. It was a signal that 2nd Platoon was engaged with mutants. The combat scene on the split screen was nothing to get tense over. It was still before sunset too. Light from the setting sun had slipped below the clouds and was heating countless deaths. The spilled blood would stay warm for a long time.

"It makes sense."

"So you think so too."

"For now, we should focus on our own work, but prepare in case we need to go support them. If an enhanced variant Trickster really is lying in wait, there is a high chance the point where communications were cut is the attack point."

Or it could be a feint. Cunning enough to divide attention and strike somewhere else was nothing extraordinary.

While he thought, the shadow-like mountain range continued to eat the sun.

========== Author’s Note ==========

#BirthdayPresent

It happened a few days ago, but the Programmer friend who often appears in the Author’s Note gave me a birthday present.

It was called Dark Souls 3... Readers may not know it, but it was a very bright, easy, casual action game full of childlike innocence. It was so fun that I repeated the same section several times.

This programmer... no, this professional guilt-tripper had been recommending that game for months, and even though I kept saying I would not play it, the fact that this person gave it to me as a gift means they must truly be a good friend.

#Q&A

Q. PAM: @No, try recommending something else. Why are your recommendations always the same?

A. Hmm... Then, although it is not Noblesse, I recommend The Three-Body Problem. It is hard SF to a degree that can feel a little extreme, so the scientific concepts and expressions that appear in the work are difficult to understand, but the context and narrative alone made it excellent.

At present, the second part, The Dark Forest, has been published.

Q. qgegegqe: @Boris and Iseult romance... Was that in TalesWeaver? I tend not to expect anything if I cannot see a romance line from the beginning, but...

A. Children of the Rune: Winterer... Jeon Minhee... couple breaker... Ugh, my head...

Q. Amironiraz: @I was rereading from chapter 1 and got curious, so I am asking. It says that after the nuclear explosion, contaminants were scattered with the fallout and the infection spread rapidly. Then does that mean normal people got hit by contaminants and were infected while still alive? Shiver shiver.

A. The people in the story assume so. The exact mechanism has not been revealed.

Q. LunarKarma: @In the world where the protagonist lives, if there is no DLC, are the only unrealistic things the plague and the ratio of good people being millions of times higher than reality? No shapeshifters, or the King in Yellow who comes when called, or something sleeping underground while feeding on the remains of struggle and death?

A. There is Tunguska, is there not? It gives stars as presents too.

Q. CurryRice: @Will there never be another person's POV in this novel? By another person, I mean a virtual personality. If they react that precisely, then even if it is a game and they are NPCs, they are no different from real people... To be honest, I am curious about Joanna Gibson's POV...

A. Unfortunately, there will not be.

Q. koko: @On a slope like that, would a flamethrower not be more advantageous? Of course, the range is short, so it would have to be installed here and there as unmanned turrets...

A. The efficiency for the weight is poor. Fuel transport is also a problem, and smoke would block visibility. That is also why I wrote that corpse incineration is carried out during gaps when there is no enemy attack.

Q. kalba: @An unidentified military group of unknown affiliation... Could they be those suspicious fanatics...? Or maybe a more advanced Trickster in disguise!

A. Hoeh-eh-eh-eng... As you know, that is a question I cannot answer.

Q. nnuhgwyegd: @If Gyeoul enters politics, Gyeoul's follower group and fans will gather and push him straight to the presidency!!

A. Entering Congress or becoming governor would be possible, but becoming president is impossible.

You can check the presidential eligibility requirements set out in Article 2 of the Constitution. As of inauguration day, the person must be at least 35 years old, must have resided in the United States for at least 14 years, and, crucially, must be a natural-born citizen. In other words, immigrants do not qualify.

Q. Kimnyagi: @I thought if it were you, author, you would become the second breaker. Is this lifeline a rotten lifeline?

A. If you expected a second couple breaker, you were wrong. I like couples who become happy.

Q. Hoch: @It seems like the new mutant type will be mutants disguised as a survivor group. Please show us abundant childlike innocence!

A. Well, I wonder what it will be. I have prepared childlike innocence cooked blue rare.

Q. GreenTurtle: @If it is the childlike innocence of the extraterrestrial Meteor, I think you would prepare a livelier event than a mutant horde disguised as defeated soldiers... People who got hurt after breaking through the barbed wire and going out to the coast were mentioned, and heretical groups came up in the conversation with the military chaplain, so maybe something like a heretical church of Korean refugees carrying out a terror attack...? By the way, can mutants withstand low-oxygen environments through Metabolic Suppression?

A. To answer only the second question, you are probably thinking of altitude sickness, and yes. It is possible. They can survive for quite a long time even after falling into water. In the end, though, they wake right before dying and drown.

Q. Gwangseoja: @The Nuclear Buldak stir-fried noodles full of childlike innocence were tasty. I am sending 20 more so you can buy one of those too.

A. No, that is... I like spiciness that is deliciously spicy. I do not think Nuclear Buldak is it.

Q. LucidDream: @Accept a new reader! The comment parts are really painful to read. The format is fun, but these are not just lines from ignorant characters in the story. They sound like things someone, somewhere, might actually be saying, so they are parts where the childlike innocence gets far too full! The childlike innocence of keyboard battlers should become jet fuel and make fingers fly, but arguing with lines from fictional characters who cannot respond is like shouting yahoo on flat ground... To shake the heart of a retired keyboard colosseum fighter, what a wicked Old One.

A. Wicked... Thank you for the compliment. I wanted to show that the road to dystopia is not somewhere far away. Ordinary days pile up and become an ordinary future.

Q. Ttilbbangkyura: @Could you upload an extra with another BJ? Like an old man or someone on drugs? Please look at author Sabbat's novel and use it as reference... Ahem. Childlike innocence is good, but please give us an extra flowing with milk and honey, haha... Not only for us readers, but for Gyeoul's viewers too, make it feel like watching another broadcast from the viewer perspective!!

A. That is a bit... Even if I wrote such an extra, it could not go up on Naver, Ridibooks, and so on, so differences would arise between platforms.

Q. JirisanWolf: @Phew, I finished rereading. It is really amazing. I said this on some earlier chapter too, but this is a really fun ethics textbook. Schools should educate students with The Little Prince in the Ossuary.

A. No. What a dangerous thing to say...

Q. Qvex: @When will volume 3 come out, and how far is it planned to cover?

A. The cover illustration has been commissioned, so I think it will come out within a month or two. I still do not know the range...

Footnotes:

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