WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: DereKimchi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Protagonist Doesn't Want to Leave the First Floor ◈

Chapter 39: 039

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The users were horrified.

How could there have been hundreds of victims, yet no one on the community board had known?

But after tracing old posts based on various testimonies, they learned that someone really had posted reports and exposés before.

Those posts, however, had been buried beneath countless troll posts and spam. They must have been pushed off the page so quickly that they barely received any views.

-So that's why troll posts started flooding the board at some point

-Yeah, so I didn't even bother reading most posts. People kept uploading gross pics and stuff

That had been what the Villains wanted.

They had flooded the board with disgusting photos and videos until people no longer wanted to open posts at all.

Even so, it was still shocking that such things had continued unchecked for so long.

Some of the victims' resentment, suppressed until now, also spread toward the Logger Clan that had turned a blind eye to them.

The Loggers had been in the same field and still had not saved them. They had known everything, yet had not exposed it either.

However, as information about the clan's size and its members' combat ability gradually came to light, some people began to say that the Loggers had been helpless too.

They had merely been walking a strange tightrope between the two Villain Clans. Apparently, they could have been wiped out at any moment.

-But how did Juggernaut's party wipe them all out by themselves? Are they really that strong?

ㄴThere was a reason they played around in the north

ㄴHe drags around two Tigers

ㄴRides them, too

ㄴThat's fucking insane

New posts continued to appear on the board.

There were still troll posts, but now most were evidence of what the Villains had done.

Then, after some time, that began to change as well. Instead of old photographs, people started posting current photos of the Villain Clans.

The system community had no censorship system. Unless the uploader handled it themselves, everything was displayed in graphic detail.

A ruined camp.

Destroyed buildings and prison facilities.

Corpses sprawled everywhere.

The new posts gradually became like a live record tracking what had happened to the Villains who had abandoned their headquarters.

Some were proof photos of people freed thanks to Juggernaut's party, gathering their strength and fighting back for revenge.

Others waited nearby and repeatedly killed Villains who restarted, just as the Villains had done to them.

As time passed, more proof appeared. Perhaps a Villain had used Random Restart, because there was a photograph of someone frozen to death naked in the forest.

The number of such people steadily increased.

The Personal Effects Bags they dropped became the foundation for someone else who had lost their Inventory to start over.

But the real shock came later.

When someone uploaded a photo, users could hardly believe their eyes.

-What the fuck

ㄴAre those all corpses?

It was something people already knew about from reports.

Hundreds of bodies, gathered by killing people over and over. Seeing it in an actual photograph was truly horrifying.

-What's Juggernaut doing? We're waiting

It was a Villain.

Probably the one they called the Necromancer.

Some Villains at that base joined in the provocation, laughing even as users below cursed and condemned them.

-Without Juggernaut, none of you bastards could even open your mouths. You all think it's your world now that it's over

ㄴLol for real, let's see what happens once Juggernaut is gone

They even said they had memorized the usernames of everyone talking on the board, casting a wide-area taunt.

Some frightened users deleted their posts and comments.

But others who had remained quiet began to speak up instead.

[Can you shut the fuck up?]

I just want to fish in peace, but this board is boring as hell. Even school bullies wouldn't act this ridiculously

ㄴYeah, I wish they'd make a fishing board

ㄴDoesn't this have a board separation function?

ㄴPeople put listings up on the marketplace and talk in the comments. Should we do that too?

There were users in the lake field who quietly continued ice fishing through all this, and the Mountain Goat Tamers on the rocky cliffs, who seemed uninterested in how the world was falling apart.

Among them were several names considered well known by other users. Their stances differed according to their own thoughts and reasoning.

Some said that even if they had been thrown into a place like this, there were things people could do and things they could not. The Villains had crossed the line.

Others quietly defended the Villains, saying that killing and being killed had already become normal and cheap, and there was nowhere else where the law of the strong preying on the weak was clearer.

Some even said that the system's creator must have intended this from the beginning, considering that people could expand their own Inventories using someone else's Personal Effects Bag.

But most believed looting Personal Effects and kidnapping, imprisoning, and abusing people were entirely different matters.

Things became briefly noisy when the past crimes of some well-known users who had subtly or openly defended the Villains were exposed.

Conversely, some who had cursed the Villains had apparently done things no better. They later sought out their victims to apologize and ask for a settlement.

-Is Juggernaut not coming?

Meanwhile, the one remaining Villain headquarters continued to provoke everyone.

Real-time reports made it clear that Juggernaut had been heading in that direction, but news of him had strangely stopped.

One day passed. Then two.

People gradually began saying that maybe Juggernaut had simply left.

The Villains began to raise their heads.

Their original clans had collapsed, but some had survived by hiding in small groups. As they began gathering around the remaining Villain Clan, a short report appeared on the board.

[Juggernaut is logging.]

The photo had been taken from quite far away.

Even so, Juggernaut's build, appearance, and outfit were unmistakable.

The problem was the state of the area around him.

It seemed to be somewhere in the forest, but the trees nearby had fallen in one direction like dominoes.

-What is that? A Skill?

-Is that really logging?

ㄴNo idea, I just saw it while passing by

ㄴWhat about now?

ㄴLooked like I'd die if I even got close, so I only took a picture and ran. Juggernaut looked kind of angry too

ㄴHow can you tell his emotions from that far away

ㄴNo, after that he kept going Boom! Boom! and wrecking everything around him

ㄴHoly shit

ㄴWhat kind of Skill is that?

ㄴDid that boss over there give him something?

As the users' curiosity reached its peak, Seo Hajin was lost in thought while controlling Juggernaut and several other Avatars.

‘I think I'm getting used to it now.’

There was a reason he had suddenly changed course and moved to a remote place.

For the past few days, he had been practicing controlling his strength.

[Heavy Attack]

It was a Skill he had used like a staple.

Its rank was not high, but that also meant its stamina consumption was low, making it good for repeated use.

While he had been beating down Villains in the triple digits, something among the items he had acquired had caught his attention.

[Skill Binding Conversion Ticket]

-Convert one possessed Skill into a Bound Skill

He did not know who had been carrying it.

But after Companion No. 1 sorted through everything, he found not one, but three of them.

He decided not to use them all immediately, only one.

The Skill he chose was Heavy Attack.

‘It might be pointless since Skills are shared anyway.’

Still, there was a reason he tried it.

The reason was [Soul Resonance].

‘Physical traits and senses are all shared, but Skills weren't.’

They were shared between Avatars.

Whether a Skill was Bound or not, and regardless of whose slot it occupied, all the Avatars could use it.

Pets were different.

Pets could not use Skills equipped in the Avatars' slots, which was only natural.

But he had recently discovered that Bound Skills were shared with pets as well.

‘They weren't at the same level, and while heavily nerfed, they were still shared.’

His Bound Skills so far were as follows.

<Bound Skills>

[Passive: Slaughter Record]

[Passive: Strength Enhancement]

[Passive: Toxic Adaptation]

[Passive: Dimensional Shelter]

He had not cared before.

He had not even wondered whether it might work, and he had never received a system notification about it, so he had not known.

Then Villains began spreading poison.

The pets that had been with him must have been exposed too, but they had suffered surprisingly little damage.

When he checked, he found that they shared part of Toxic Adaptation's effect. He checked the others just in case and found that Bound Skills seemed to be shared.

‘They can even open Subspace.’

Unlike the Avatars, however, they only received a small share through Soul Resonance, so they could not keep the entrance open for long.

‘Avatars can leave it open indefinitely.’

It was not a major problem.

Instead, it gave him a new way to use it.

He could send a pet instead of an Avatar, open an entrance through it, and move an Avatar through that entrance.

But what he wanted to know right now was Heavy Attack.

If it was shared, even in a weakened form, it would clearly help improve the pets' combat ability.

Even if it did not work as he expected, he would not lose the Skill itself. The ticket had been free, so there was no burden.

And the result was this.

Heavy Attack became a Bound Skill.

[Passive: Heavy Attack]

[Consume stamina to strike with greater force]

[Impact enhanced according to the weight you possess]

The word Passive had been added in front.

And the final line, “Can be enhanced by combining identical Skills,” had disappeared.

‘So it can't be enhanced anymore.’

That was a little disappointing, but he soon noticed another difference.

It had originally said, “Impact enhanced according to the weight you carry.”

Now it said, “the weight you possess.”

‘This feels like it could be huge.’

And it was.

When it was based on what he carried, only the weight of the items each individual had in their own Inventory counted.

But once it changed to what he possessed, it seemed to apply the total weight owned by Seo Hajin, not by each Avatar.

In other words, every Avatar could share the same bonus effect regardless of who carried more.

‘I did it for the pets, but the Avatars benefited too.’

The pets improved considerably as well.

Even though the effect was heavily weakened, the weight possessed by the Avatars was applied to them too, resulting in tremendous destructive power.

“This is strange.”

It should not have been that tremendous.

It was still a low-rank Skill.

But it had become far too strong.

“Wait.”

Then Seo Hajin realized that the Avatars had been activating it without putting much strength into it.

Since its power was based on weight, he had always used the Skill lightly.

“Does the destructive power change depending on how much strength I use?”

When he confirmed it, he was truly astonished.

Even if all Avatar weight was shared, the results before him could not possibly be explained by that alone.

“Ah.”

Then he realized it.

It counted the weight in Subspace too.

“So there was a reason it could no longer be enhanced.”

There was no longer any need to raise the Skill's rank by fusing more Skills into it.

If he increased the weight of the supplies he possessed, he could deliver proportionally stronger blows.

‘There would have been a limit with just Inventories, but Subspace created incredible synergy.’

Just the supplies currently stored inside likely weighed several tons.

The lumber being processed into Firewood alone must have weighed an enormous amount.

Perhaps that was why.

Giving something a light tap was not a problem, but once he tried to hit a little harder, it became difficult to control.

“The harder I strike, the more stamina it consumes. If I mess up, I could collapse from exhaustion after one hit.”

That would be another variable to consider.

If necessary, he could have one Avatar use Heavy Attack at maximum power, then rest in Subspace.

But first, he needed to find out how much power he could use normally.

He wanted to find a suitable level of power to mix into ordinary hunting.

Boom!

“Wow...”

This had uses beyond hunting too.

He struck a tree with his usual Glaive, not even an axe, and it left marks as though it had been chopped dozens of times.

“I didn't even hit it that hard.”

He checked whether the weapon had been damaged, but at least at this level, it did not seem to be a problem.

So he decided to determine how much the weapon could withstand the Skill, along with practicing his control.

Naturally, trees around him were destroyed in the process.

He put them into Subspace, processed them into Firewood, and sold them. He even used the Points he earned to expand Subspace further.

“There isn't any reason to save up anymore.”

The more he put inside, and the heavier the things he put inside, the stronger the Skill became.

Of course, he needed enough stamina to withstand that power, but he could solve that by raising his level.

Crack! Craaack!

Creakkk...

Towering trees repeatedly fell and broke apart.

Perhaps because of the noise, Bears approached, but the pets guarding the area dealt with them before they could get close.

“Are you guys okay?”

“Yes.”

Companion No. 1 answered briefly.

They seemed to instinctively know how much Heavy Attack they could handle.

“It'd be better not to overdo it.”

The testing continued.

It was more fun than he expected, and the Firewood income from the process was not bad either.

“I think I'm getting used to it now.”

Had it taken about two days?

He would likely need more fine-tuning, but it seemed like he could polish it further in actual combat.

After reorganizing his Avatars, Seo Hajin resumed his journey.

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