WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Little Prince in the Ossuary

Chapter 68

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Seventh California (5)

Dawn woke the boy.

A thin strip of dim blue sky seeped in through the tent entrance. It still felt too early to be awake. Gyeoul moved his heavy arm, reached for his rifle first, checked that the magazine was seated, then slowly sat up.

He needed a little time before his body fully woke. The physical drain of the last two days had been too intense, and sleep had not restored him much, so a lot of 「Fatigue」 had built up.

While he slept, things ran on automatic progression under preset conditions. If he had woken up, there had to be a reason. Mental exhaustion weighed on him too. When Gyeoul in this world dreamed, the Gyeoul inside that dream rested too. Quiet darkness he could enjoy alone, without worrying about viewers from another world.

On a battlefield, there was no such thing as too much caution. Gyeoul woke the soldiers in the same tent first. They were dead asleep, so dragging them awake was difficult.

“Ugh... what the hell is going on?”

“Gear up.”

As his condition returned closer to normal, he finally picked up the dull warning from 「Survival Instinct」. A prickling sensation came and went at the ends of his nerves. The activation level was still low, but there was clearly some kind of threat.

‘Doesn’t seem fatal.’

It had not helped much at Camp Roberts itself, but with 「Survival Instinct」 entering genius territory, the odds of dying in his sleep were almost zero. Still, fatigue had delayed his reactions, so they needed to move quickly.

The soldiers saw that something was off with him, their eyes going wide as they forced themselves awake. Their trust in the boy officer had nearly become superstition.

Smack!

Still, smashing your own head with your helmet was a bit much, wasn’t it? The soldier who hit both sleep and himself at once dropped forward for a moment and played dead. Gyeoul walked over and grabbed his shoulder.

“You okay?”

“I’m okay...”

He did not look okay, but he was ready soon enough.

One Corporal in the same tent and the other NCOs moved quickly. Without waiting for further orders, they spread the alert through the whole Company. Wake up! Wake up! The repeated shouts rode the damp wind and echoed through the hills. Soldiers from other Company camps came out to see what was happening. Anxiety spread across their faces. It had only been one day since the night raid.

In the end, Gyeoul unintentionally woke forces on a regimental scale. Sleet fell over thin fog as soldiers in ponchos looked around in confusion. They seemed even more nervous because they did not know why they had been roused.

Meanwhile, Gyeoul called over a radio operator and had him contact the sentries, to confirm the camp perimeter was still secure.

The Company commander tracked down the source of the early wake-up and asked:

“What exactly is going on?”

Once asked directly, Gyeoul had no clear answer.

“I’m not sure how to explain it... I just had a bad feeling.”

Captain Esher looked baffled.

“You didn’t just have a bad dream?”

No answer was needed. Gunfire beyond the fog answered for him. Gyeoul frowned. The receiver in his ear suddenly flooded with traffic. Requests poured in across regiment, battalion, and Company channels, all asking what was happening.

Gunfire cracked again. Scattered bursts, then sustained automatic fire. 「Combat Sense」 picked out the direction and rough distance. The range estimate was a little off, likely because of the fog. High humidity made sound spread farther than usual.

Captain Esher immediately started issuing orders. In moments, he split the force into units to reinforce the perimeter, hold the camp, and deploy to the contact site.

Gyeoul went with the deployment unit. They moved by vehicle.

When he arrived, the engagement was already over. Mutant corpses lay scattered near the camp boundary. Not many. Soldiers were going one by one to confirm kills. Through all of it, the Noise Maker support blared loudly. It seemed to be sounding from at least three directions at once.

‘Not a coordinated attack?’

Gyeoul examined the signs of fighting. It would have been dangerous if the response had been slower, but compared to the earlier ambush, it was nothing.

Still, there were missing personnel. Two sentries assigned to the breached sector were gone. The Company commander responsible for that side looked ashen. Like everyone else from Camp San Luis Obispo, he looked crushed by extreme stress.

“I thought it was finally over... why is this happening again...”

He ran his hands over his greasy face, called over a radio operator, and requested battalion HQ permission to search for the missing men. Gyeoul spoke up.

“I’ll take the leaders’ position.”

“You?”

It was their first meeting, but no one failed to recognize Gyeoul. The unfamiliar Company commander thought briefly, then nodded slowly. He showed no resistance to accepting help from an officer outside his unit. Pride was long gone. And this was not someone he could measure himself against anyway.

Battalion HQ approved Gyeoul’s participation without hesitation.

Using testimony from the soldiers who had last rotated with the missing men, Gyeoul walked slightly off their likely patrol route.

The rain had softened the ground, leaving many footprints. Grass covered parts of them, but that was no obstacle to Gyeoul with rank 4 「Tracking」.

The bigger issue was the sheer amount. Even just soldiers’ boot prints layered by time were messy enough, and then mutant tracks from beyond the boundary were added on top. Some of the dead ones seemed to drag their feet. Smeared grooves were everywhere.

‘Still not enough...’

「Insight」 recommended pushing 「Tracking」 beyond expert level.

Spending experience resources on it was hard to justify. Sure, it helped. If you had to survive in the wild, spotting animal traces was a major advantage.

But chances to use it were limited. The apocalypse had not progressed to the point where they needed to hunt for food, and incidents like this were not frequent.

He had not invested much in it to begin with. Its 「Talent Advantage」 was low, so efficiency was poor.

With new mutant types appearing and difficulty rising, Gyeoul wanted to invest in skills with higher utility.

The experience he had gained over the last two days was substantial. He had earned more from evaluations of his impact on others than from direct combat rewards.

At this rate, he could push 「Movement」 into superhuman territory.

Still, ten people he might save later could not replace one person he could save now. They were virtual personalities, virtual lives, but if he wanted not to lose himself, even in a false world, then at least he should keep his way of living.

Gyeoul set aside his regret and pushed 「Tracking」 instead. Each rank-up changed the quality of the augmented reality data.

“This way.”

He gestured, and the platoon formed up and followed several steps behind. Three platoons advanced carefully in dispersed formation at fixed intervals.

Protecting civilians remained the top priority, so committing more troops than this was difficult.

The rainy dawn forest felt bleak. Water droplets hanging from branches thudded onto fallen leaves, a heavy percussion that scraped at the soldiers’ nerves. Even for Gyeoul, this noisy environment was not ideal. If something was in the woods, its own sounds would be muffled too.

Rain could carry sound, but if it was as small as raindrops or similar to them, that did not help.

Noise Makers also roared from time to time. That was part of camp defense.

The search continued along a faint side trail. The mountain slope dropped lower. As they neared the lakeside, the fog thickened. Eventually visibility shrank to thirty meters. Dense trees cast blurred shadows into the mist. Some soldiers flinched at those shadows, mistaking them for mutants.

In this environment, even thermal night vision was useless. The fog swallowed heat as well. Since mutants could be lying under leaf litter, even Gyeoul could not push forward quickly.

The wind blew.

Gyeoul raised his fist.

The soldiers dropped into kneeling firing postures and scanned the area.

As the dense fog shifted, just for a moment, Gyeoul saw two human forms lying on the ground.

The corpses looked like bait.

In the damp air thick with the scent of water, two other smells were mixed in. One was blood. The other was the stench of things that never washed.

Sour and foul.

That stench was slightly different from the usual rot of regular mutants. If something had overcome immune rejection, there was only one answer: 「Ghouls」. Gyeoul whispered into the radio.

“Two missing sentry bodies confirmed ahead. Both dead. Also, I estimate a Ghoul pack nearby. They may be in the trees, so stay alert.”

Rustling followed. A few soldiers tried to move away from tree trunks. A platoon leader and radio operator reported the situation to HQ. Maybe because both sentries were confirmed dead, their faces looked grim.

Then suddenly, a sound slicing through the wind. Gyeoul fired on reflex.

Ting!

An unidentified projectile shattered with sparks. It split in two, spun through the air, then plunged into the leaf litter. A nearby soldier recoiled in shock. Gyeoul gestured for him to identify it. The soldier crawled over, scanned around, and searched the leaves.

Soon his hand found a grip. He held it up for everyone to see.

It was half a kitchen knife.

A platoon leader who had frozen mid-transmission muttered in disbelief.

“Mutants are using weapons?”

The line wavered. Primates often used basic tools, and mutants wearing human bodies might have that ability too, but this was the first time they had actually seen it.

They must have scavenged the blades from an abandoned city.

After that, dozens more knives came flying in. Gyeoul intercepted some, but conditions were bad. They were bursting through the fog at close range.

Animal growls, roars, and pounding footsteps came from all directions.

Nervous soldiers fired blindly and threw grenades.

But unaimed fire was not effective. In similarly bad conditions during the Vietnam War, statistics said U.S. troops spent over twenty thousand rounds to kill one North Vietnamese soldier. Here they faced mutants tougher than humans, and enhanced mutants at that, Ghouls.

Grenades were the same. Even with a wide effective radius, uneven terrain and dense trees cut lethality significantly.

And as if mocking that fact, the sounds the monsters made on purpose never stopped.

‘Trying to drain our ammo? They’re strangely smart... Could these be Beta Ghouls?’

He could not get a clean read on their numbers. 「Insight」 provided estimates based on incoming sounds, but pack-hunting beasts usually knew how to split roles.

In this state, he could not charge in recklessly on skill confidence alone.

Watching the fog writhe like something from another world, Gyeoul got an idea.

“Platoon leader.”

“Yeah?”

“Do your grenadiers have illumination rounds?”

A U.S. infantry platoon received one six-shot grenade launcher (M32) per squad, and there were also single-shot underbarrel launchers attached to rifles. Grenade launchers could fire more types of rounds than people expected, including illumination rounds.

Still, they were small and hard to use as full battlefield lighting. The platoon leader pointed that out.

“Why illumination? Those are signal rounds. Who are you signaling?”

He meant they could just contact the main force by radio. Gyeoul shook his head.

“No. I mean use them as lighting, literally.”

He pointed at the fog.

“It’s still dark around us, and the fog is thick. If we create bright light sources, mutant outlines or shadows should show in the mist. We hit those with synchronized volleys and kill them.”

“Each round burns only about seven seconds... wouldn’t requesting support be better?”

“What if that’s exactly what they want?”

“Huh?”

“What if this is a trap? They use the missing men as bait to lure us in, then use us as bait to draw out more troops, and break through the gap that opens up.”

The platoon leader looked rattled. Gyeoul pressed on.

“Sure, the odds are low. But not zero, and that matters. There are thousands of civilians in camp. The battalion commander was already hit once the other day, so he won’t take even a slightly risky gamble. He’s responsible for thousands of civilians. He’d rather tell us to abandon the remains.”

In the end, the platoon leader agreed. Plan settled: fire illumination rounds, advance while securing cover, lay down fire, recover the bodies.

The grenadiers moved quickly, emptying current loads and reloading. Unlike rifles, each round had to be inserted one by one. White, green, and red illumination rounds each had separate normal uses, but none of that mattered here. They were going to fire them into the ground anyway.

After getting close to the grenadiers, Gyeoul gave directions and range.

“When I signal, fire one by one with slight delays, from this side to that side, in groups of three. Set ranges at twenty, forty, and sixty. Too many obstacles out here.”

He wanted the illumination points layered in depth.

“Fire!”

Thump-thump-thump!

Before the rounds even landed, Gyeoul had already acquired five targets. As shadows cast in the fog rotated like sundial hands, he snapped his reticle to each center and pulled the trigger five times in one breath.

‘Missed one.’

A long scream followed. Hit, but not dead. Gyeoul was already moving, firing at every silhouette thrashing between skewed light and tree shadows.

Whenever he fired at the center of overlapping shadows, shrieks and painful roars followed without fail. The different flare colors made it even more effective. The soldiers were hitting more easily than expected too.

In seven seconds, he pushed over ten meters and emptied one and a half magazines.

“Next!”

Another volley of illumination rounds fired. Inside tricolor-lit fog, humans with range control overwhelmed the mutants with concentrated firepower.

By the third volley, forward elements finally secured the bodies. While they checked for signs of mutation, the rest of the force drove back the now-thinned Ghoul pack.

Their screams and pounding footsteps faded quickly into the distance.

“We did it!”

The platoon leader threw a hand up in celebration. Gyeoul walked over to the soldiers who had recovered the bodies.

“Are the bodies okay?”

He meant two things. Were any parts missing, and had anyone been infected. A squad leader nodded.

“They were stabbed to death. Looks like they meant to use them as bait from the start... Honestly, it’s chilling. These aren’t the old dumb mutants anymore.”

“Can’t be helped. We adapt, that’s all.”

Gyeoul patted his shoulder.

By the time they recovered the bodies and started back, the sun had risen clearly, even through the fog.

The battalion commander waited until the fog had thinned before ordering the entire force to move. About twenty kilometers remained to Camp Roberts. Yesterday, they had covered the same distance over a broken-up afternoon march, so if nothing happened, they could have lunch at camp.

They had been focused for too long. Even Gyeoul needed rest now. He hoped the rest of the journey would stay quiet. The boy rested his elbow on the Humvee window frame, propped his chin on his hand, and closed his eyes.

============================ Author's Afterword ============================

1. The word “impairment” used in the last episode was not a typo. In insurance and pension assessments for physical disability, the standard is an “impairment grade classification table.” They calculate the impairment rate by the degree of disability or loss and apply that to payout rates.

2. I also had a meeting with the publisher yesterday. They told me some funny stories.

2-1.

Editor-in-chief: The person who first recommended The Little Prince in the Ossuary was a female writer.

Author: Wow.

Editor-in-chief: But the title had “Little Prince” in it. Male writers usually do not use titles like that.

Author: I see.

Editor-in-chief: So I thought this novel would be BL.

Author: ...?!

Editor-in-chief: Then I read it, and it was different from what I expected, so I was a bit startled. Hahaha.

2-2.

Editor-in-chief: If your novel gets published, have you thought about bonus material?

Author: Yes. I was planning to provide the U.S. Army Survival Manual, so I had been translating it myself. It is public domain, so there are no copyright issues.

Editor-in-chief: Huh? Our publishing house is officially releasing that very soon.

Author: ...?!

Author: (Then all my effort until now was... aaaaaaaaah...)

2-3.

Editor-in-chief: Our publishing house does not obsess over money.

Author: Yes, I heard you are a brave publisher famous for pushing ahead even when something does not make money.

Editor-in-chief: Hahaha. For example, ○○○○○○○ has not even sold ○○○○ copies so far. - At the editor-in-chief’s request, the book title and sales figures are blinded. :) (2016.08.02)

Author: ...?!

Editor-in-chief: Still, it is fine. Our CEO is rich!

Author: ...?!

3.

Q. silentrabbit-nim: @By using the word “while alive,” should we understand that Gyeoul is not currently in a living state?

A. What I wanted to express was this: even someone who is clearly alive, even if only their brain remains, can still be treated as dead depending on social perception, institutions, and culture.

Gyeoul was educated and raised in that kind of society, so he thinks of himself as basically dead too.

The part where Gyeoul was treated like merchandise follows the same logic.

So in short, respecting humans is the role of humans.

After writing it, that sounded obvious. I will keep trying, as old greatness does today, so that obvious things can be obvious in society. Tekeli-li Tekeli-li.

Q. EojinGwangdae-nim: @I got annoyed peeking in with those little coupons they gave out every maintenance, so I bought 90 days. N-not because of Ossuary or anything.

A. I did stay up all night writing... b-but it is not like I wrote it for EojinGwangdae-nim to read.

I am awake at this hour, so my mind is hazy. I slept two hours yesterday. Haha.

Q. Yakarubita: @I hope this goes premium. I hope the author makes lots of money and buys lots of chicken...

A. The editor-in-chief I met yesterday also strongly recommended premium, but I already made my decision, so I will not reverse it.

As for chicken... yeah, I do want some.

Q. GamjaKkeopjil-nim: @Jereumis-nim Ah, free game... still, amazing either way. Everyone, Civilization 5 is on sale now! Was it 80 percent or 90 percent? Go play Civ, everyone! As for the author... :)

A. As for the author... why do you skip the rest? I like Civilization too. Do you know how much I like it? I have been playing since Civilization 1.

Sob.

Q. Dohwawon-nim: @Please do not cry, author! You created joy for thousands of people with your time!

A. I just want to offer up the joy of thousands as a sacrifice and be happy by myself!

Because I am an incredibly evil author.

How evil?

Hmm...

I have ten legs.

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