WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith ◈
Chapter 69: The Poseidon Girl
──────
Su-a went on her first deployment.
To the scene of a major fire, no less.
...And apparently, it was going to be broadcast live nationwide.
* * *
Why were those family bastards able to strut around with their heads held high?
It wasn't the Joseon Dynasty anymore. This was the twenty-first century.
The reason was simple!
Even when they threw their weight around, the Occult Management Bureau, the people who should've come to put them in their place, never showed up.
When a Cursed spirit incident broke out, the Occult Management Bureau set up a Barrier, declared an Isolation Zone, and carried out an Exorcism on the Cursed spirits inside.
The problem was that Isolation Zones had been popping up far too often lately.
Of course, the Bureau's elite were strong.
But they couldn't send them to every incident breaking out across the country.
No matter how strong they were, there was no guarantee they would return safely from an Isolation Zone every time.
If they kept throwing their own forces at every incident, losses both large and small would inevitably pile up.
Before long, the Occult Management Bureau, which was supposed to keep the Occult World under control, would only grow weaker.
So they had no choice but to outsource the work.
And the biggest players taking on those contracts were the prestigious sorcerer families.
No wonder they held their heads so high.
As long as they didn't cross the line completely, the Bureau turned a blind eye to most of their abuse of power.
Well, everyone already knew that much.
A few days ago, I heard from the secretary that even with all the families pitching in, they were running out of people.
Ordinary sorcerers needed to step up, but nobody recognized their work and the rewards were vague.
Everyone avoided the jobs, so participation rates had hit rock bottom.
That was when the Occult Management Bureau unveiled its ambitious new card.
The [LIVE] tab!
In short, they planned to turn Exorcisms in Isolation Zones into a kind of sports broadcast and showcase.
Just like getting famous in the Octagon could land you sponsors and sponsorships.
If you made a name for yourself in an Isolation Zone, ads, Ritual instrument sponsorships, and other opportunities could bring in serious money.
They wanted to turn deployments themselves into a source of income.
[Notice] Pilot Operation of the Isolation Zone Real-Time Monitoring Service
─ To improve participation rates in isolation-zone response efforts, the Occult Management Bureau will conduct trial broadcasts of real-time monitoring footage for select isolation zones. Response performance will later be reflected in ranking and reward calculations...
They even planned to factor the footage into the rankings.
That way, everyone would jump into Isolation Zones of their own accord, hoping to make it big.
'...They put some thought into this.'
* * *
'Let's see...'
I flopped onto the suite's sofa and opened Goblin Fire.
It had been ten minutes since Su-a went on her first deployment.
Noh Jin-hyeok said I didn't need to worry, but that was easier said than done.
I'd already seen how well the Ritual instrument I made performed, but this was Su-a's first real field operation.
On top of that, she'd been sent to a major fire scene. No matter how many years she'd trained...
'Was it really okay to send her alone?'
Maybe I'd grown attached to her already. It felt like I'd sent a kid out near the water.
No.
This time, I should say I'd sent her out near a fire.
Still, Noh Jin-hyeok knew her better than I did after only seeing her for a few days. He must've known what he was doing when he sent her.
'So where do I watch this broadcast...?'
My finger stopped as I was about to scroll down.
A tab that hadn't been there yesterday was flashing red at the top of the main screen.
[LIVE]
'Oh. Is this it?'
Tap.
[Emergency Broadcast] Dowon District Fire Scene, 1,186 viewers
The moment the screen opened, a towering pillar of red flames filled my vision.
'...What is this video quality?'
The burning commercial building was shown clearly from above, like it was being filmed by a drone.
Apparently, the Occult Management Bureau had sensor-type sorcerers. What were they called again? Right, Observers. They used long-range Spell Formulas to provide a view of the scene.
Wow. What kind of technology was this?
Was it true that Heaven Beyond Heaven ran Goblin Fire?
Any sufficiently advanced sorcery was indistinguishable from technology.
'This is basically an Afri... no, an Occult World livestream.'
└ What? When did this tab get added?
└ Goblin Fire has been updating like crazy lately lol
└ Are we even allowed to watch this? It's a disaster scene.
└ They made it for people to watch;; The Bureau did it to increase participation.
└ Watching it isn't going to make people feel a sense of justice lol They should raise the pay.
└ For real lol
└ Why isn't the person filming saving anyone? Just standing there?
└ Observers are sensor types, so they can't fight;; It's a long-range Spell Formula anyway, so they aren't even at the scene.
└ Ugh, read the notice already.
└ Holy shit, apparently two kids are trapped in a taekwondo gym on the fourth floor?
└ Wait, what's that on the second floor?
'Second floor?'
Beyond a second-floor window on the screen, something shaped like a person stood motionless, its charred body completely engulfed in flames.
Every time it swung an arm, streams of fire burst from its fingertips and scattered in all directions.
'...What's with that burning zombie-looking thing?'
I shrank the broadcast into a smaller window and opened the live message board beside it.
As expected, posts were already flooding in.
[LIVE] Isn't that a Hellfire Ghost?
(Screenshot from the livestream)
It just showed up in the second-floor window. That's a Hellfire Ghost, right?
└ Holy shit, that's a Hellfire Ghost?? First time seeing one. It looks terrifying.
└ What's a Hellfire Ghost?
└ A Cursed spirit that possesses someone consumed by deep resentment or rage. It burns the host's body and sets fires everywhere until the host's life force runs out.
└ ;;; So that used to be a person too?
└ How do you catch something like that?
└ Usually, you need to pour a ton of Spiritual Power-infused water on it from a distance. Or lure it toward a river or the sea.
└ This is the middle of downtown. Where's the river?
└ That's why you wait for the Occult Fire Brigade. They drive around with spirit-water tankers.
└ Breaking news just came in. They left already, but it'll take at least fifteen minutes?
└ Fifteen minutes?? The building will collapse before then.
└ Are there any water attribute sorcerers nearby?
└ Even if there were, what could they do? Making water from nothing won't be nearly enough.
'True.'
Even for a water attribute sorcerer, creating water from bare ground took an enormous amount of Spiritual Power.
If there were a river or sea nearby, they could draw from it, but creating enough water from nothing wouldn't be nearly enough against flames that fierce.
[LIVE] Since I'm watching this, I feel like I should go help with our Hasoon.
└ Damn, you're actually going to save them? The positive effects of livestreaming are insane.
└ What's Hasoon?
└ A hippo.
└ ??? How did you get a hippo?
└ How are you even going to transport a hippo?
└ Do Emperor keyring.
└ Tsk... A Grade 3 one won't be nearly enough.
- Holy shit, wait. Is someone walking toward the fire??
- ??? Who's that girl?
'Oh, there she is.'
In the corner of the screen, a small girl with a black hood pulled low over her face was walking steadily toward the burning commercial building.
└ What's she doing? Why isn't she running away?
└ She looks like a student. Why is she going over there?
└ Run away, kid!
Then...
The girl pulled something from the black case on her back.
In her hand was a silver-white trident.
└ ????
└ A trident?
└ What is that?? Is she a sorcerer?
└ I've never seen her before.
Whoooosh!
In front of the building, a broken fire hydrant was shooting a stream of water high into the sky.
The girl stopped in front of it.
Then, gripping the trident, she began to move slowly.
As if she were dancing.
The scattered spray of water began to glide through the air along her fingertips and the trident's tip.
└ ????
└ What is that?
As the girl moved, the water steadily increased in volume, swirling violently as it wrapped around her.
└ ?????????????????????
└ How is she doing that???
[Emergency Broadcast] Dowon District Fire Scene, 3,731 viewers
Then...
└ Uh, uh, uh...
└ What the hell, she's going in! She's going in!
└ What is she doing??
Wrapped in a curtain of water, the girl walked straight into the entrance of the flaming building.
Then she disappeared into the thick smoke.
One minute passed after she entered.
Then two.
That was when...
Boom!
The second-floor windows exploded as white steam burst out in a rush.
└ Holy shit, what was that just now?
└ Is she fighting in there? No way. Against the Hellfire Ghost?
Three minutes.
└ I'm getting worried.
└ What if she collapsed inside?
└ Going in alone against a Hellfire Ghost was way too much;;
The chat was filling with worried messages when...
└ !!!!!!
└ She's out!!!
Breaking through the thick smoke...
The girl emerged safely from the building, wrapped in waves of water and carrying a taekwondo-uniformed child under each arm.
└ Fuck, she really saved them.
└ Kyaaaaa...
└ But what happened to the Hellfire Ghost? Did she catch it?
└ Doesn't the fire look like it's dying down?
└ Wait, she caught the Hellfire Ghost??? That's insane.
└ So badass.
└ She's seriously cool as hell lol
└ Who is she? Is she really from one of the families?
"Waaah! Mom!"
"Waaaah!"
The children burst into tears the moment they were set down.
The girl startled, crouched in front of them, and began awkwardly trying to calm them down.
Then, from the distance, the Occult Fire Brigade's spirit-water tanker arrived with the sound of sirens.
The moment one of the crew members approached the girl and asked her name...
Puff!
A cloud of white mist bloomed around her.
When the mist cleared...
The girl had vanished without a trace.
└ ???????????? Where did she go????
└ Did you see her disappear just now?? So cool.
└ This is seriously insane...
* * *
[LIVE] Poseidon Girl.
(A GIF of a water vortex forming as the girl dances)
└ Kya...!
└ Holy shit, did you see that?
└ She looks so young. How the hell did she do that?
└ Water attribute sorcerers, what level of Spell Formula was that?
└ ???
└ What was that?
└ I've never seen anything like it.
└ Yeah, and she did it without even forming hand seals. Could it be an Ultimate Art?
└ Come on, there's no way it was an Ultimate Art lol
[HOT] lol The gap is seriously adorable
(A GIF of her panicking when the kids start bawling)
└ Look at that clueless expression. So cute.
└ Right? lol
└ The way she panics and stamps her feet when the kids cry, I just want to cuddle her to bits.
└ For real lol
└ Heh heh heh.
└ But what was that trident?
└ First time I've ever seen someone use a trident.
└ It was cool as hell, though.
└ Her character is so distinct.
└ She's my favorite from today on.
Heh heh heh.
It worked perfectly.
I really had made the right call with the trident.
To be honest, I had considered a sparkly magic wand for a while.
When it came to debuting, drawing attention was just as important as skill.
A girl holding a trident that controlled water?
Now that was the point.
Seeing Goblin Fire flooded with posts about Su-a, it looked like the pre-debut buzz had worked exactly as intended.
It even seemed like she'd already gained some fans.
As expected, my sense for this kind of thing...
Ahem.
Should I head down soon?
It looked like it was almost time for Su-a's lunch.
Hmm-hmm~
* * *
The buffet quality was insane again today.
How much did they even spend on food every month?
Holding a plate, I seriously scanned the options.
Today, I choose you, spicy pork.
Bring it on.
Ah...
I piled spicy pork high over steaming white rice.
Perfect.
As I looked for a place to sit with my plate, I spotted a familiar head at a table in the corner.
It was Su-a.
Thunk.
I set my plate across from her and sat down.
"Hey, senior. Huh? Why did you only get greens? The spicy pork is insane today. Go get some."
"..."
Ahem.
More importantly, I couldn't wait any longer. I still hadn't heard her reaction.
"...So, how was the gift? Did you like it?"
I already knew she'd like it without having to see her reaction.
"..."
Scrape. Su-a stood up.
"Su-a?"
Without saying a word, she picked up her plate and walked over to another table.
'...What? All of a sudden?'
I thought we'd gotten pretty close already???
Footnotes:
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