WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith ◈
Chapter 93: Jin Mu-yeong, the Seventh Batter
──────
[I'll begin the real game now.]
“...”
I slowly rose from my seat.
“...Eun-chae?”
Beside me, Eun-chae was frozen in the exact position she had been in, clutching my sleeve.
I lightly touched her shoulder, but she did not budge, like a doll.
'She's still breathing.'
The spectators were the same.
The person with an arm raised to throw a beer cup.
The person hanging over the railing and screaming their lungs out.
All of them were frozen exactly as they were.
Tens of thousands of people.
No, not all of them.
Here and there among the packed crowd, I could see people moving.
Inhale.
Honestly, I thought this was just a minor guard detail.
Mu-yeong was Grade 3, after all.
I had not worked my way up from the bottom, so I did not know all the details, but as Mu-yeong said, Grade 3 was enough to be called a veteran.
It meant you were established as a sorcerer and could make a living.
You could handle a Grade 3 Cursed spirit exorcism job, or maybe even narrowly defeat a Grade 2 Cursed spirit if you were lucky and had the right compatibility.
Yeah, that was all I thought it would be.
But this...
“It looks like a Mindscape Barrier, bro.”
“Seems like it.”
During the tea breaks I took while learning talisman sorcery from Ha-na, I had heard bits and pieces of general Occult World knowledge.
Apparently, there were two major peaks a sorcerer could reach.
One was the Ultimate Art. The pinnacle of a Spell Formula.
The pinnacle of technique attained by devoting yourself to a single school of skills.
The other was a Mindscape Barrier.
This one was literally the pinnacle of the mindscape.
Sorcery was not made up of technical methods and proficiency alone.
A sorcerer’s inner world.
You know how curses have that image, right?
How strong is your malice and killing intent? How badly do you want to curse someone?
The power changes depending on that.
In fact, many forms of sorcery were heavily influenced by Imprinted Intent.
Talisman sorcery and spirit beast taming were both like that.
It was not about how much you had refined your Spell Formula. It was about how firm a world you carried inside yourself.
That was why a sorcerer who had never even learned Barrier techniques could suddenly open one someday.
And why the greatest Barrier specialist of their generation might never even step over that threshold in their entire life.
I had heard it was only called a Barrier because the result took the form of a space.
A world of your own, where your own rules applied.
“It’s like a dream world. Their Imprinted Intent gets caked in Spiritual Power and manifests in reality.”
“But you probably won't see one, kid. You’re a blacksmith. I’ve only seen two in my whole life.”
I had heard a few stories like that.
But this was on a completely different scale from what I had heard.
I looked up.
The yellowed sky covered the entire stadium, packed with tens of thousands of people.
I did not know much about it, but a baseball stadium was obviously enormous.
And there had to be tens of thousands of people here.
“It looks like they imposed restrictions to increase its power.”
“Restrictions...?”
“Something like only being able to use it in a baseball stadium.”
A world with its own rules was not all-powerful.
Because a Barrier grew stronger the more it was believed to be reality, something this absurd needed to fit a certain degree of plausibility.
I did not fully understand it either.
“They impose conditions on their world. Like, ‘It can only be opened in a baseball stadium.’ I heard the stricter the conditions, the stronger the Barrier.”
That still did not seem enough for a Barrier this large.
For now, I would watch.
I gathered Spiritual Power at my fingertips and sent it around my eyes.
I felt around the Barrier overhead.
The yellowed sky.
Inside it, strands of Spell Formula spread out in every direction like capillaries.
Fine, dense threads stretched like a spiderweb, toward the field. The stands. The scoreboard.
'What is this...?'
This feeling of déjà vu.
I felt like I had seen it somewhere before.
Bzzzt.
[All right, you have waited a long time!]
The speakers came back on.
That cheerfully bright voice was still impossible to get used to.
[Now, I will explain the rules!]
[First! The sorcerers inside the stadium will participate in the game as players.]
Murmurs rose from every direction.
“W-What did it say?”
“Players? What players?”
[Second! If a player retires, a new player will be recruited from the stands.]
[Third! Refusing to bat, or interfering with the game, will result in a penalty.]
[Now then, I hope everyone wins the game and returns home safely. Let’s begin!]
[We will now reveal today’s lineup!]
The huge scoreboard beyond the outfield lit up.
[First batter! Gwak Jeong-bae!]
The face of a middle-aged man I had never seen before filled the screen.
[Second batter! Seo Il-gwon!]
[Third batter! Nam Jeong-a!]
One by one, faces and names appeared.
Waaah!
Cheers rose from somewhere every time a name was called.
Then...
[Seventh batter! Jin Mu-yeong!]
“...”
On the scoreboard, a man with bright yellow hair stared straight ahead.
The lineup continued.
All the way to the eighth and ninth batters.
My name was not there.
That meant there were quite a few sorcerers here.
“Let’s get ready, Mu-yeong.”
“...Yes.”
I reached into my clothes.
I had brought Talismans just in case, but would they be enough?
I had around eight left.
Mu-yeong adjusted the black bag slung over his shoulder.
Zzip.
The zipper opened, revealing a pitch-black bat.
“Never act rashly inside a Mindscape Barrier.”
“It’s like entering someone else’s dream. In there, whatever the owner decides becomes the law.”
'There will be a penalty for interfering with the game...'
Did we have no choice but to go along with it for now?
“Fuck! Cut the bullshit!”
At that moment, in the first-base infield stands, a young sorcerer formed a hand seal and began gathering Spiritual Power into spheres in both hands.
Fwoosh.
The Spiritual Power gradually began to burn.
He fired a blazing red fireball into the sky.
Whoosh.
Boom!
It struck the Barrier, but it seemed to do no damage at all. It simply passed through and vanished.
Beep!
[Interfering with the game! A penalty will be imposed!]
“What? W-Wait...”
Bzzzt.
Static began crawling across the man’s body.
He rippled once, like low-quality footage.
Bzzzt.
When the second ripple passed over him, no one was there anymore.
Only a half-finished beer cup remained on the armrest of his seat.
What was that?
Then I saw it.
The vein-like strands of Spell Formula stretching from every direction reached toward him.
In the blink of an eye, the man vanished.
'Did he die?'
* * *
Meanwhile, on Goblin Fire.
[Emergency Live Broadcast] Cheongun Stadium | Viewers: 3,127
The screen showed a baseball stadium viewed from the sky.
- ??? Isn’t that Cheongun Stadium?
- Yeah, it is. Isn’t it the Titans’ home game today?
- Damn. The broadcast got cut off out of nowhere just now.
- It switched screens because of a transmission issue.
- Is that a Barrier?
- There have to be 20,000 people in there.
The view changed to show the packed stands and the field.
- ???
- What? Are all those people frozen?
- Holy shit, how did they do that?
- Some people are moving, though?
- What is that scoreboard? A lineup? They are not the Titans.
[Did the person who vanished earlier die?]
└ I don't think so.
└ Yeah, an instant-death move would be completely ridiculous.
└ Even for a Mindscape Barrier, that makes no sense.
└ Then what was it??
[What is the Occult Management Bureau doing right now?]
└ They have already deployed.
└ Apparently Occult Management Bureau vehicles are lined up outside the main gate.
└ But they cannot get in.
└ What the hell is the Occult Management Bureau doing? They cannot break through this?
└ Breaking through is not the problem. There are 20,000 people inside. Sounds like they are looking for a way in because they do not know what will happen if they interfere carelessly.
[What the fuck is a Mindscape Barrier?]
How did it freeze tens of thousands of people?
└ It really is fucking absurd.
└ So how do they win?
└ Basically, they have to win a baseball game, right?
[Current player information at the stadium]
One Grade 2: Cha Du-sik.
Three Grade 3s.
The rest seem to be Grade 4.
└ We are seriously fucked.
└ Other than Du-sik, we are done for.
└ Seriously. How are they supposed to win with this lineup?
* * *
[All right, then...]
Ba-bam! Ba-ba-ba-bam!
A fanfare played.
[Play ball!]
[First batter, Gwak Jeong-bae.]
The man vanished from the stands.
Bzzzt.
He appeared in the batter’s box.
At the same time, the players from both teams on the field scattered like grains of sand and seeped beneath the ground.
In their place, something slowly rose from every defensive position.
Gray baseball players wearing uniforms.
Their faces were hidden beneath static.
A bat lay beside the plate.
The man picked it up with trembling hands and stepped into the batter’s box.
On the mound, the faceless pitcher slowly began its windup.
Whoosh.
The first pitch was an ordinary fastball.
At least until it reached right in front of home plate.
Then it broke.
At a right angle.
Thwack!
[Strike!]
“...?!”
The man could not even get his bat out.
'...Can a ball even do that?'
Beside me, Mu-yeong muttered like he was groaning.
“You cannot hit that.”
The second pitch.
This time, an absurdly slow ball floated toward him.
Just as the man gritted his teeth and pulled his bat back, the ball vanished.
Thwack!
The catcher’s mitt made a sound.
[Two strikes!]
“W-What is this...?!”
The third pitch.
Whoosh.
The ball flying toward him suddenly broke hard inside in front of his eyes and swelled in size.
Wham!
“Urk.”
His defensive Spell Formula shattered like glass, and he flew straight into the backstop.
[Oopsie, hit by pitch!]
[...Oh dear. Well, well.]
[You have retired!]
The dirt beneath the backstop rippled and silently swallowed the sprawled man.
'...Shouldn’t a hit by pitch get you on base?'
This Barrier was only pretending to follow baseball rules.
The one who decided the rules was the owner of this world.
- Did anyone else’s screen freeze just now?
- Yeah, mine too.
- What happened to that guy?
- That is probably how an Observer’s Spell Formula works. The screen freezes like it is lagging, or the angle shifts whenever someone gets seriously hurt.
- Did he really die?
- We don't know yet. It only said he retired.
- Are the people on that lineup going to keep getting that treatment in order? Until every sorcerer inside dies?
[A player has retired! According to the rules, we will recruit a new player!]
Badum badum badum badum...
Along with the drumroll, a yellow beam of light swept wildly across the stands.
It slid over the frozen people.
It paused only briefly over the people who could move.
“D-Don’t come here. Don’t come here...”
The beam stopped over a young man with glasses in the outfield seats.
[Congratulations, newly recruited player!]
The young man’s face and name appeared in large letters on the scoreboard.
[First batter, Kim Gi-yeong.]
“N-No... Ahh...”
[Next, the second batter! Seo Il-gwon!]
.
.
.
The game continued in much the same way.
The ball would swell enormously in flight.
It would split into three in front of home plate.
Sometimes, the pitcher would throw a ball made from a Cursed spirit instead.
Twice, the pitcher threw the ball high into the sky, where it turned into a rock and came crashing down.
Boom!
When the dust settled, nothing was ever left in the batter’s box.
Every time someone retired, a new face was selected from the stands, and the name on the scoreboard was calmly replaced.
Three more people disappeared into the dirt.
[Next up! Sixth batter, Cha Du-sik!]
- Finally!
- What? That muscle guy?
- He is around fifteenth among the Grade 2s right now.
- One of the strongest Grade 2 martial fighters.
- Really? Then he has a chance, right?
- Please...
Bzzzt.
The man teleported in front of the mound, and he was so muscular it looked like he barely had a neck.
He stepped into the batter’s box and tossed the bat far away.
Well, after watching this, it seemed like all he had to do was stop the pitcher’s throw from reaching the catcher’s mitt.
Riiip!
He tore off his shirt with both hands, spread his legs wide, and lowered his shoulders.
Hummm.
Spiritual Power gathered and gathered over his muscular body.
“...Cha Du-sik is famous. His raw strength is said to rival a Grade 1.”
'...Oh.'
He was definitely on another level.
Then the pitcher began its windup.
The ball floated into the sky.
- Fuck.
- That thing again!
- Why now?
The ball swelled, grew rough, and hardened black.
Rumble.
It became a massive rock and fell toward him.
“Uraaaah!”
The man thrust both arms above his head.
Thoom!
He caught it.
He really caught it.
His knees sank about a foot into the dirt.
But he was holding on.
- ??????
- This is crazy.
- He is holding it!!!
- Let’s gooooo!
“Ghk...!”
With bloodshot eyes, the man gritted his teeth.
The rock he was holding up grew heavier.
Crunch.
“Gahk!”
Thud.
[Oopsie, unfortunately that was a hit by pitch. You have retired.]
The dirt rippled and swallowed him.
- ...
- Fuck.
- We are just done for now.
- A Grade 2 went down like that. What can the rest even do?
- Shouldn’t the Occult Management Bureau just break in already?
- They cannot. There are 20,000 people inside.
[Seventh batter, Jin Mu-yeong!]
- Who is that?
- Apparently, he is a Grade 3 sorcerer.
- I heard he is ranked seventy-fourth.
- Tch. This is bad.
- A Grade 2 went down. What is a Grade 3 supposed to do?
- This is really hard to watch.
* * *
On the screen, the yellow-haired man walked toward the batter’s box.
He wore a suit with his tie loosened.
A bat rested on his shoulder.
- Why is he carrying a bat?
- Maybe that is his usual weapon?
- That bat looks fucking cool.
- Seriously. It has a different feel to it.
Jin Mu-yeong lightly smoothed the dirt in the batter’s box with his dress shoes.
Tap tap.
Then he spat into his palm and rubbed his hands together.
He readjusted his grip on the bat.
A two-handed grip.
He twisted his waist and pulled his shoulders all the way back.
Vrrrrr.
The pitch-black bat began to tremble low.
The tremors grew stronger and deeper.
Whiiir.
- Huh? What is wrong with that bat?
- Is it a Ritual Implement?
- It looks like he is filling it with Spiritual Power.
- Even if he is, it will not matter. Du-sik could not handle it either.
Then came the first pitch.
The faceless pitcher slowly began its windup.
The ball was thrown into the sky.
- Fuck fuck fuck.
- That again?
- He has to dodge it.
- Hey, dodge it! Run!
- He is screwed!
What came next was obvious.
Whenever the pitcher threw the ball upward, it always became a rock and fell.
It swelled.
It grew rough.
It hardened black.
Rumble.
A rock large enough to block out the sky fell toward the batter’s box.
- I cannot watch.
- No...
Then, the instant its shadow reached the man’s head, Jin Mu-yeong grinned.
“Hup... Cha!”
Crack!
The massive rock shattered into pieces.
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