WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: DereKimchi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Protagonist Doesn't Want to Leave the First Floor ◈
Chapter 72
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[Additional Mission Survival Report, Day 58]
- Alive.
└ Me too.
└ Nearly died when four Eagles came after me today.
└ Is four really that many?
└ Why don't you try hunting them, then?
- Surviving. Tomorrow's the extension date, but I won't extend.
└ You too?
└ Yeah.
- Still here.
└ Aren't you near the north?
└ That's right. Why?
└ How's Juggernaut doing?
└ That person never leaves comments.
└ None of the subordinates do either.
└ I don't think those people use social media.
- Alive.
└ Are there seven now?
└ There could be people who don't comment.
└ Still, there probably aren't even ten.
“Hmm.”
The man counted the comments, then closed the window.
This would probably be his last time, too.
At first, he thought hunting would become easier once the regular users left.
Surviving had gotten a little tougher after the wave, but for users above a certain level, it only meant there were more weak monsters to kill.
After that, they would not need to watch what others were doing or fight over hunting grounds. With more monsters around, Points came in quite nicely, too.
But as time passed, things became strange.
There were far too many monsters.
As the high-aggro users scattered throughout the Area disappeared one after another, the monsters with nowhere else to go converged on those who remained.
He had only been able to breathe easier after settling in a remote place monsters could not easily reach. Even then, hunting itself had gradually become exhausting.
“If Juggernaut leaves before us, we're screwed.”
That was probably why people asked about Juggernaut's situation whenever the extension period came around.
[Does anyone know how long Juggernaut plans to stay?]
- No idea.
└ Ask him yourself.
└ Doesn't seem like he'd answer.
- If Juggernaut leaves, we need to get out immediately too.
└ Obviously.
└ It feels like they're holding back more than half the monsters right now.
└ It could be almost all of them, not just half.
- At the very least, we need to leave before Juggernaut.
└ Agreed.
└ Yeah. If Juggernaut disappears first, where do you think the remaining monsters will go?
- Then what if Juggernaut doesn't extend this time?
└ Run for it, no question.
└ If he vanishes before the mission period ends, we're done for.
└ No way.
└ If the timing gets messed up, I'll hole up somewhere remote until the next extension.
└ Without Juggernaut, there won't be anyone selling food either.
└ I can last about a month.
└ Should I stockpile some food too?
Juggernaut's presence was a kind of safety measure.
They were too far away to receive direct help, but a considerable number of the monsters that should have scattered throughout the Area were instead gathering in the north.
The people still alive only hunted the few monsters that spilled out while heading toward Juggernaut.
They knew that, too.
[I'm thinking of meeting Juggernaut before I leave.]
I feel like I should thank him for everything.
I'm going before this mission ends.
- Trying to build connections?
└ Can't say that's not part of it.
└ Honest.
- Juggernaut doesn't seem to like people.
└ Yeah. He turned down everyone who went to ask if they could join him.
└ Honestly, Juggernaut's subordinates are way stronger than those people.
└ That's true.
- He might at least accept a thank-you.
└ If he sends you away, just come back.
└ With an Eagle, you'll reach the north in no time.
- Maybe I'll come too.
└ Send me a message if you do.
After another hunt, the man found a reply to his comment.
It was from the woman he had first met through social media. They had exchanged this and that afterward, gradually becoming acquainted.
Neither had room to help the other directly, but simply having someone to talk to had eased the suffocating feeling somewhat.
After a brief hesitation, the man left a comment.
- Let's go together.
└ Okay. I'll head over around the end of the mission.
└ Do you have an Eagle?
└ Yeah. You don't?
└ That stings a little.
* * *
Another month passed.
It had been nearly three months since the Additional Mission began. As the third mission period drew to a close, only two people were still leaving survival reports on the board.
By coincidence, they were the man and the woman who had planned to go thank Juggernaut together.
They repeatedly posted to see whether anyone else was still around, even posting on social media, but nobody responded.
“Looks like everyone really did leave.”
The man slowly scanned the board, where no new posts appeared anymore, and the traces users had accumulated beneath it day after day.
Once they left as well, would this board simply be buried? Or was there someone else, someone who simply had not left a post?
“What are you thinking about?”
The woman asked. The man shook his head and climbed into the basket carried by the Eagle she had brought.
“Just random thoughts.”
“You checked everything, right?”
“Yeah. I checked a few times.”
“Check once more. We aren't coming back.”
“Okay.”
They had already emptied their shelter.
More than that, they had torn it down.
There was nothing left behind, and nothing to leave behind.
He nodded again to say he had finished checking. Soon, the basket shot upward.
“I should've bought one while I had the chance.”
- You had the Points. Why didn't you?
“I have acrophobia.”
- Oh dear. Are you okay now?
The wind made normal conversation impossible, but they could exchange voice messages through social media.
He looked down at the landscape from beside the basket.
The mountain range where he had stayed for so long receded farther and farther beneath him. The higher they climbed, the farther he could see.
“...There are so damn many.”
The countless monsters filling the landscape, and the mass migration that had begun after everyone left, were clearly visible.
But the migration he saw was nothing.
The farther north they went, the greater the scale of the monsters became, beyond comparison.
A huge current moving between the forest and trees.
Black dots carpeting the plains.
Feral Dogs, Wolves, Wild Boars, and Bears.
Even smaller beasts filled the gaps between them.
Eagles across the sky were similarly heading north. Their presence could have drawn aggro toward the travelers' Eagle, but so far, there had been no problem.
- They're all going to Juggernaut, right?
“Looks that way.”
The Eagle climbed higher.
After flying north for a while, they finally saw where it ended.
“Fuck.”
The man cursed without thinking.
He had seen videos before.
He had read posts from people who watched the hunting from afar.
But seeing it in person was completely different.
Northern Forest and the plains.
An endless wave of monsters surged across them.
The camp of the D-Day Clan, which had once protected hundreds of people, had long since been trampled and destroyed beneath that wave.
Of course, that happened after everyone left. He had heard it had been perfectly safe until then.
“...A breakwater.”
Beyond it, the man saw a massive force holding back that enormous wave and was suddenly reminded of a breakwater by the sea.
From afar, it looked like a long fortress wall. But as they drew closer, he could tell it was a living mass.
Huge Bear Beastkin held the front line with thick logs and boulders.
Wolves raced and leaped through the gaps, while riders atop several Wolves fired Mana Rifles.
Numerous Tigers ran across the battlefield, shattering the wave into pieces.
In the sky, Eagles fewer in number than the approaching flock but overwhelmingly fiercer joined forces to strike down the flying enemies one by one.
And at the center beyond them, warriors who were likely Juggernaut and his subordinates constantly swept away the monsters.
“Those are people?”
The massive force that looked like a breakwater.
Yet one side of it was strangely open.
At first, he thought the monsters had broken through the defense. Looking again, that was not it.
It was like a floodgate deliberately left open.
Part of the massive wave flowed through that gap, only to vanish almost immediately.
- Ah...
They were not merely smashed after colliding with something.
Every monster that entered was ground apart, burst, torn into pieces, then even its traces were collected.
When new monsters surged in, the same thing repeated.
- It's like a factory.
The woman said it was like a slaughterhouse.
“...”
A monster entered.
It died.
Its loot was collected.
The process continued without the slightest interruption.
“A factory...”
As the man murmured in partial agreement, the woman suddenly spoke in a voice that sounded almost like a groan.
- I knew it. He was alone.
“What was?”
- Juggernaut and his subordinates.
“Yeah.”
- They're not several people.
“...?”
The man did not understand at once.
“If they're not people, what are they? Pets? But you can tell pet Beastkin by their appearance.”
- No.
The woman denied it.
- They're one person.
“...What?”
- Juggernaut and those warriors down there. They're all one person's Avatars.
The man blinked.
The woman was riding the Eagle, so he could not see her face. But she did not sound as though she were lying or joking.
“What kind of baseless theory is that?”
- ...
“What is your evidence?”
The woman did not answer.
She simply kept looking down. A faint light gathered in her visible eye, then disappeared, but the man did not see it.
Still, based on his past experiences, he could only guess that she had some kind of skill.
‘Hmm. One person.’
Stone and Vulcan.
The other people whose names were known.
Everyone had assumed they were simply Juggernaut's subordinates.
There had been strange things, of course.
No one besides Juggernaut had ever posted on the board.
They had no social media accounts, and only Juggernaut used the marketplace. At the time, people thought Juggernaut simply handled everything for the group, but...
“Is that even possible?”
It was different from pets.
You could give pets appropriate orders, and they would move and carry them out on their own. They were not complicated to manage.
But controlling multiple Avatars by yourself at the same time? It would not be easy, even in some mouse-clicking game.
‘Even pro gamers would struggle with that.’
And Juggernaut had not merely moved Avatars around.
He rotated each Avatar in and out, commanded thousands of pets, and had not stopped hunting for a single moment in years.
“...He was a crazy person.”
- Call him an incredible person.
“Isn't that basically the same thing?”
- No.
The man understood to some extent why she had suddenly become so deferential, so he did not argue further.
The Eagle descended lower.
Several Eagles from Juggernaut's side approached, but perhaps because they recognized the visitors were not monsters, they did not attack. Instead, they escorted them.
The two could approach by circling around to the rear, where the monster wave did not directly reach.
Once they landed, Juggernaut soon strode toward them with a bloodied club resting on his shoulder.
“Hello.”
Could polite speech sound so ill-suited to anyone?
They awkwardly returned the greeting, then explained why they had come.
“We're going back now, too.”
“Ah. I see.”
“We thought we should thank you before we go. You've helped us a great deal.”
“I haven't particularly helped you.”
“We bought a lot of things from the marketplace.”
“Ah.”
Juggernaut nodded.
The man smiled faintly.
“Neither of us is extending this time. What about you, Juggernaut?”
“I extended yesterday.”
“Again?”
“Yes.”
It was not surprising.
If Juggernaut intended to return as things stood, he would not be expanding his forces and fighting like this even now.
“How much longer are you staying?”
“I don't know yet.”
“You must have items you need to buy.”
“Yes. A few.”
A short answer.
The woman did not pry further. Instead, she asked something else.
“You are going to leave eventually, right?”
“I have to.”
“We're social media friends. Let's keep in touch afterward.”
“Let's do that.”
Since they had met anyway, the two stood on either side of Juggernaut and suggested taking a picture.
Smiling brightly beside the blood-soaked warrior felt a little awkward, but perhaps because they, too, had grown used to living covered in blood, they did not feel any revulsion.
“Um...”
Then it was time to part.
The woman looked at Juggernaut, who had come to see them off.
“I'll keep your secret.”
“Pardon?”
“Your secret, Juggernaut.”
Juggernaut tilted his head.
The man spoke in the woman's place.
“If it gets out, it will immediately point to one of us anyway. We'll keep it completely secret.”
“Hmm.”
Only then did Juggernaut seem to understand. He looked at them for a moment, then nodded.
“Thank you.”
That concluded their goodbyes.
The man did not need to ride the Eagle again.
The mission extension period had already arrived, so if they did not extend again, they could return immediately.
“We might be the last, but maybe not. There could be users who don't use the board.”
“That's true.”
Juggernaut said that even so, he would probably be the one to remain until the end.
“...”
The man looked into the distance.
The monster wave.
Juggernaut's legion standing against it.
“See you outside.”
“Okay.”
Then the two left.
Juggernaut quietly looked at the empty place where people had stood just moments ago. Soon, he readjusted his grip on his club and headed back toward the battlefield.
“Three left besides me.”
Seo Hajin could tell how many users remained in the Area. It seemed the system showed it only to him, since the other two did not appear to see it.
[Remaining Users in the Area: 4]
The notification had been appearing for some time now.
He had wondered why it showed him that, but there was probably a reason.
Perhaps there would be something extra for being the last one to remain. A special reward would be even better.
“It isn't difficult.”
The wave had become a tsunami, and the tsunami was growing ever larger, but his defensive force was expanding at a similar pace.
Their numbers were far lower, but their levels were higher.
Moreover, some effects grew stronger the more of them there were.
The effects of various skills, including Slaughter Record, Soul Resonance, Strength Enhancement, Toxic Adaptation, and Heavy Attack, were shared among them, even if weakened.
The moment they became his pets, they became something beyond the monsters they once were. Against monsters of the same level, they overwhelmed them as though it were only natural.
And he could evolve them, or at the very least, raise them all the way to their current level cap. They might look similar, but they were never on the same level.
“I'm counting on you.”
“Leave it to me, Master.”
A newly evolved Wolf Rider led the pack of Wolves assigned to its team toward the battlefield.
There were now enough Bear Beastkin to deploy additional ones in battle even after excluding those working in the Mine.
He had added another Arc Recycler, too.
Surprisingly, he had not bought it with Points. It had come out of a box.
‘I wasn't expecting that at all.’
Thanks to it, the rate at which junk items were dismantled and removed doubled. The various resources gained that way were being used to make and test new equipment and weapons.
The Mana Cannon had also been improved repeatedly.
At first, they had called it a shotgun, but it was gradually becoming something better suited to the name cannon.
“The two must have been pretty strong.”
The monsters had increased beyond imagination again, but that only made him more motivated.
A defensive line deliberately left open on one side.
Monsters pouring through the gap.
Avatars and pets moved in a set order to deal with them.
It was a sight closer to work than battle.
Someone describing it as a factory was probably because that was exactly what he had intended.
“Hmm.”
Then, at some point, Seo Hajin suddenly recalled a phrase the system had used.
‘It said this mission was [External Variable Removal].’
External variables.
It was an odd phrase.
Wolves and Bears.
Tigers and Eagles.
There were some unusually evolved creatures mixed in, but most suited the forests and mountains here perfectly. They were only larger and fiercer, and looked like animals that had always lived here.
Yet the system called them external variables. Why?
‘Because they came from outside this Area?’
Someone's hypothesis that monsters meant to pour out of the Tower had instead come here.
If the speculation that monsters meant to overflow into reality were somehow flowing into this place was correct, calling them external variables would not be wrong.
But something still bothered him.
This was a test Area, as everyone knew by now.
It had probably been made based on real terrain and ecosystems, but strangely, mountains and forests were visible beyond the northern boundary.
‘I saw ruined structures and ancient stone buildings too.’
He could not actually cross over.
The system did not allow it.
‘I don't know. What is any of this?’
Seo Hajin looked far down at the surroundings from the sky.
Forests and mountain ranges.
Plains and swamps.
Wastelands and a vast lake.
They connected together so naturally, yet were cut off from everything outside by an invisible boundary.
‘What if this place was not modeled after natural terrain, but was itself part of the Tower from the beginning?’
That would somewhat explain why the Tower's monsters could come here instead of overflowing onto the surface.
‘However they did it, if they isolated part of the Tower's first floor to make this Area... sending the first floor's monsters here would not be difficult either.’
Come to think of it, this place resembled Earth's environment, but it had never been exactly the same.
‘What if the monsters aren't the only external variables, and this entire Area is one too?’
The Tower's land being added to reality.
The monsters that escaped from it.
And this Additional Mission, taking in and dealing with the monster overflow that should have poured onto the surface.
“...A 1.5 times reward won't be enough.”
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