WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Max-Level Swordsman of Fusionpunk ◈
Chapter 6
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People always ended up sticking with their own.
The Korean players who had fallen into this strange world were no different. They trusted one another to watch their backs because they came from the same country, had played the same game, and spoke the same language.
At first, it had been a survival instinct. They gathered so they wouldn’t die alone, eating together, fighting together, and running away together.
But wherever people gathered, a pecking order soon formed. As their numbers grew, rules followed.
And so those groups became guilds. The Korean Cooperative Cheongmyeong was one such guild.
“...Kang Doseok. Kang Doseok. I’d heard there was no reasoning with you, but...”
The werewolf’s muzzle slowly opened. Hot breath escaped between yellow fangs. The ball of fire floating at the mage’s fingertips grew a little larger, and the shield gunner pushed an iron shield forward. Kang Doseok smirked at the sight.
“You haven’t rushed me yet. Seems you do value your lives.”
“Don’t make me laugh, Kang Doseok. You’re just some oddball running around with a sword and no guild.”
“Then why haven’t you attacked yet? Do what you always do. Why not?”
The three Cheongmyeong members’ expressions turned cold.
If Kang Doseok had been an ordinary player, they would have attacked long ago.
When faced with someone weak, someone easy to deal with, players reached for their guns and blades first. With a Skill Star at stake, there was no reason to stand around arguing and throwing their guild’s name around.
They could simply kill their opponent and deal with the remaining problems later.
Kang Doseok knew perfectly well that reputation alone was keeping these bastards from moving.
Sword in hand, Kang Doseok took a step forward. The werewolf ground their teeth. Seeing that, Kang Doseok spoke.
“If you’re scared, just fuck off. I’ll let you live.”
“...You crazy bastard. You think we’re doing this because we’re afraid of you?”
“Then why?”
“Because we don’t want the hassle.”
The werewolf bared their teeth.
“Don’t you understand what fighting us here means? It means making an enemy of Cheongmyeong.”
“With a Skill Star on the line, why would I care? You talk too much. If you’re going to attack, get on with it. Otherwise, back off quietly.”
“Fucking hell, you really can’t be reasoned with!”
The shield gunner shouted and raised a shotgun. The enormous weapon’s muzzle pointed at Kang Doseok’s chest.
“You motherfucker! You think you’re somebody because you run around with a sword on your own? We’re Cheongmyeong. A first-generation guild, you fuck!”
“So what?”
As the shotgun wielder shouted, the mage’s fireball slowly swayed as well.
Mort watched the scene from the floor.
Three players.
One other player.
And Mort.
Only then did Mort understand. When he first found the star, he’d thought something incredibly lucky had finally happened in his life. But selling it through a normal deal now seemed impossible.
That meant his life was still stuck in the gutter. Hauling corpses, wiping up rotting blood, and pushing unidentified bodies into the shredding facility. The thing that had seemed like a chance to escape that pit was actually a noose.
“Fuck...”
The word slipped out on its own. The werewolf looked down.
“You keep your mouth shut.”
“Fuck that! You crazy bastards!”
Mort screamed in fury.
“Why the fuck are you doing this? You’re players! You must have plenty of money! You could just pay for it, so why the fuck did you break my hand?”
That was when it happened.
Baaang!
With a sound that tore through the air, a single bullet flew in from the far end of the passage. A thin streak ripped through the damp darkness.
In that same instant, Kang Doseok’s sword moved.
Claaang!
A sharp metallic ring rang through the closed-off collection area. The deflected bullet shattered a rusty rail. Sparks flew. Startled, Mort pressed his face into the floor.
“Fuuuck!”
Mort’s scream cut through the air, and the werewolf’s red eyes widened. The mage’s fireball shook violently. The shield gunner instinctively raised the iron shield.
Kang Doseok slowly turned toward the darkness where the bullet had come from, then looked back at the Cheongmyeong members.
“So you want a fight.”
“W-wait. We didn’t fire that. I’m telling you, it wasn’t us. The three of us are the only Cheongmyeong members here!”
The mage shouted instinctively and raised a barrier. A blue barrier surrounded all three guild members. Watching it form, Kang Doseok twirled the sword’s hilt in his hand.
“Then who fired it?”
“How the fuck should I know!”
The next instant.
Fwoooosh!
Boooooom!
A rocket warhead slammed into the mage’s blue barrier.
Light burst out. Flames and a shock wave swallowed the closed-off collection area. Rusty rails shook, and the work lights hanging from the ceiling were ripped down, cables and all. The explosion sent pools of stagnant water flying in every direction.
“What the fuck!”
The shield gunner pulled the iron shield tight against their body. The mage gritted their teeth and increased the barrier’s output. The blue surface shook violently. The werewolf crouched low and covered their face with an arm.
A beat later, the roar of the explosion tore at their ears.
Dust drifted down.
Chunks of broken concrete rolled across the floor, and water poured from the ceiling like rain. The space where they had been aiming at one another moments earlier had become a wreck in an instant.
“Fuck! What was that?”
The mage shouted.
“Over there! An ambush! What crazy bastard would attack Cheongmyeong...!”
Panting, the mage lowered the barrier. An old ring on one finger had burned black.
The werewolf raised their head.
The explosion had only just passed. The dust hadn’t fully settled, and a ringing remained deep in their ears. Even so, the werewolf instinctively looked first at the spot where Kang Doseok had been standing.
Empty.
Only ripples in the black water remained where Kang Doseok had stood. The white business card that had been lying on the floor moments earlier was gone too. Drops from the ceiling kept striking the puddle that had reflected the sword.
Drip.
Drip.
The werewolf’s nose twitched.
Wet concrete. Spent gunpowder. Something burned. Rotten water. Amid those smells, Kang Doseok’s scent had thinned and broken off.
The bastard who had been standing right in front of them had vanished in the brief opening created by the explosion.
“...Ran away.”
The werewolf’s red eyes narrowed. They immediately sized up the situation.
“Kang Doseok took the seller.”
Those red eyes turned toward the darkness.
“We don’t have time to chase the fucker who fired that rocket. We go after the seller and Kang Doseok first. That bastard’s the only one who knows where the star is.”
“What should we do when we find them?”
At the gunner’s question, the werewolf took the lead.
“Kang Doseok interfered with Cheongmyeong’s target. We do what we always do.”
The werewolf bared their teeth and growled.
“We just rip the bastard apart.”
* * *
Kang Doseok was in a maintenance passage behind the closed-off collection station.
It was a narrow space with a low ceiling. Long-idle pipes tangled overhead, and black water flooded the floor to just below ankle height. An old warning light blinked on the wall.
Mort lay sprawled in the water.
“Gah!”
As soon as Mort came around, he coughed, struggling for breath. Clutching a half-shattered hand, he tried to sit up, only to freeze at the sight of Kang Doseok standing right in front of him.
“Y-you...”
“Keep quiet if you want to live.”
“Fuck, why? Where are we? Did you get me out of there?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I told you I came for the star.”
Mort’s face twisted. He tried to force his broken forearm to move and let out a quiet groan. The arm trembled violently. Mort gritted his teeth.
“If... if you kill me, you won’t find the star.”
“That’s why you’re still alive.”
“...”
Cradling the broken arm, Mort looked up at Kang Doseok. His lips moved several times.
“...Money.”
Mort spoke.
“...What about the money?”
“Do you still not understand the situation?”
Kang Doseok stared down at Mort in disbelief, then spoke as though addressing a hopeless fool.
“Within five minutes of you putting up that post, they probably dug up your face, personal details, workplace, home, even your family ties. It’s not just Cheongmyeong that’s come after you. Someone just tried to blow you to pieces, and from a quick look, I’d say there are more than twenty players here.”
Mort swallowed.
“Fucking hell... Twenty? Twenty of those monsters?”
“There’ll be more as time passes. Those bastards will torture you until they find the star you hid.”
“...”
“And once they find it, they’ll kill you.”
Mort gritted his teeth.
“Fuck. So you’re saying my life is completely fucked.”
“Seems you finally understand,” Kang Doseok said.
“Hand the star over to me.”
“...You won’t kill me?”
“I’ll at least get you out of here, if I get the star.”
Mort’s face twisted. Just then, the scrape of metal came from beyond the maintenance passage. It wasn’t far away. Cheongmyeong was on the move.
Kang Doseok didn’t even turn toward the sound, only stared straight at Mort.
“Where?”
Mort bit his lip.
He was still hesitating. Not out of greed, but because he knew handing over that star meant his life would return to exactly what it had been.
Corpses.
Rotting blood.
The shredding facility.
That stinking life.
Mort squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them.
“The corpse collection room. End of the lower line. Pre-disposal storage room. Third bed.”
“Lead the way.”
Kang Doseok turned.
Mort staggered upright. Every time the broken hand swayed, his face went white. Still, he followed.
The two passed through the narrow maintenance passage toward the end of the lower line. Water dripped between rusty pipes, and gunshots and screams sounded in the distance.
They reached a door.
[Pre-Disposal Storage Room]
With a trembling hand, Mort released the lock. Cold air rushed out as the door opened.
Inside, metal beds stood in rows. Corpses lay beneath gray sheets, and the cooling unit on the ceiling gave a low whine as though it might fail at any moment.
Mort pointed with his chin.
“The third one.”
Kang Doseok walked straight over and pulled back the sheet. The corpse’s chest was open. Its ribs were spread apart, with black, dried blood clotted inside.
“In here?”
“Inside the chest.”
Without hesitation, Kang Doseok reached in.
Between dried blood and scraps of flesh.
His fingertips caught on a piece of red stone. Kang Doseok withdrew his hand, holding a stone that glowed red. It was unmistakably a Skill Star.
At that moment.
Booom!
The storage room door shattered.
Wet fur and red eyes pushed into the cold air. The werewolf. The mage and shield gunner followed close behind.
“Kang Doseok!”
The werewolf growled.
“Hand over the Skill Star.”
Kang Doseok didn’t answer.
The red star shone in his open palm.
The werewolf’s red eyes caught that light. And the werewolf realized they were one beat too late.
The moment Kang Doseok closed his fist, the red light seeped into his palm. A blood-red line spread beneath the skin, then ran up his forearm and into his body.
The storage room fell silent.
The mage’s face stiffened. The shield gunner froze with the shotgun raised.
Hot breath escaped between the werewolf’s fangs.
Kang Doseok looked down at his empty palm, then spoke to the werewolf.
“Well, that’s a shame.”
He gave his hand a light shake. The remaining red glow scattered.
“I already ate it.”
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