WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Seven-Time Hero Goes Live ◈
Chapter 15: Julian, the Hero of Interest (3)
──────
Fairy Corporation's monitoring room.
Bang!
Ram slammed the desk.
Jun-il's Constellations were not dropping. If anything, they were increasing.
“Damn it! Another photo was taken and posted!? Delete it! Now!”
Ram pointed at the social media post and shouted.
“To do that, we'd need Coins...”
Jingle!
Ram threw down a Coin.
“I'll pay! Delete every last one!”
“That isn't enough.”
Sam shook their head.
“What? Th-that's one Heart, isn't it? Isn't that more than enough to intervene?”
“Please calm down, Ram. How many Constellations have seen this post already? At least a hundred. Deleting it will cost far more Coins.”
“Ugh... Delete it anyway! We need to deal with that bastard, don't we!?”
Sam shook their head.
“There is a more efficient way, Ram. Popularity like that only lasts a moment. Our protagonist comes first. Guys like that get forgotten on their own. He's F-tier! There are hundreds of times more Constellations watching Kang Hae-il right now! This is what matters!”
“...Hoo.”
Ram took a deep breath and nodded.
‘Right. Interest like this fades eventually. In the end, people's eyes will turn to the protagonist who stays at the center of the story.’
Sam was right.
Ram was making a mistake because jealousy of Pam had blinded them.
“We just need to prepare steadily according to the scenario. We need to get Kang Hae-il ready for his debut battle.”
“Right. You're right, Sam... I got carried away. I'm busy enough raising my own kid.”
Kang Hae-il.
He was the protagonist Ram had chosen for this modern fantasy setting.
“This impossible number of goblins. Even A-rank Awakeners would probably have no choice but to give up under normal circumstances. But Kang Hae-il is different.”
“...Yeah. He is.”
Ram gave a confident grin.
“Hae-il is special.”
* * *
On the way to Myeonmok-dong, Jun-il kept reading strategy posts on the community site.
Most of the posts he read were not about monsters, but about the Awakener system.
Popular!) What ranks show is potential, not immediate strength
It was in the Popular tab.
That meant it was a post people kept returning to, like a perennial bestseller.
==== ====
I tested it with a friend.
Potential has nothing to do with current combat power.
Higher levels are just stronger right away. They crush you with stats.
Of course, at the same level, the one with higher potential is stronger.
Honestly, levels and potential do not matter. Class is what really matters.
Mage classes are basically royalty, ranged classes are nobles, and tanks are commoners.
Melee DPS are the untouchables lol. They're just hopeless.
“Thieves should shut up and wrap bandages.” The wisdom of the ancients has been proven right.
==== ====
-Why did this suddenly drift into an all-out roast of roles, fuck lol
-Where's the part about Awakener ranks?
-So does a level 100 E-rank beat a level 1 A+?
└Level 100? You crazy bastard lol. Of course level 100 wins.
└Realistically, an A+ could never be lower level than an E. Their growth speed is faster too. It's like born rich versus dirt poor.
└That's fucking cruel.
-Ha... I awakened, slapped my department head, and quit. Turns out E-rank is complete trashㅠㅠ
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└lol bye
└If you got E, just keep working at your company lol
└Post proof.
└Fuck, a status window appeared, and I got so excited because I thought my life was finally about to bloomㅠ
As posts like that made clear, the gap between ranks could not be overcome.
Saying levels could overcome it was just wordplay.
Higher ranks gained levels faster, and the rewards they received from leveling were better too.
‘A class system has simply appeared.’
Jun-il could plainly see what Ram had intended with this system.
It was a new class society.
Society had not fully adapted to the system yet.
But it would gradually become one.
‘Still, there are some pretty interesting things here.’
Jun-il had lived only in the medieval world for a long time.
After looking through an online community for a while, he found it rather entertaining. He kept observing the Awakeners' world and what people thought as he traveled.
Before he knew it, the subway had reached the station.
[This stop is Sagajeong, Sagajeong Stati...]
Krrrshhh.
The announcement cut off.
[Ah. Ahem. Passengers.]
The train operator's voice suddenly came on.
[A large number of go... goblins have reportedly appeared in a low-rise apartment complex in Myeonmok-dong, near Sagajeong Station. Please be careful if you plan to get off.]
Murmur, murmur.
The passengers were frightened at the mention of goblins.
Only days ago, goblins had been popping up everywhere in subways and airplanes under the excuse of a tutorial.
It was understandable that they would be traumatized.
‘Hm?’
Murmur, murmur.
While everyone else was terrified, a few people wore different expressions.
“We came to the right place.”
“So this is it.”
“Hoo... Shall we power-level a bit?”
They got off in groups of three or four. It was obvious they had formed parties to hunt goblins.
‘Gaksalbeop users?’
They seemed to be fellow community users, but Jun-il did not approach them first.
They might ask to see his rank.
-Aren't those community people?
-Look at him running away lol
-He's running because he's F-rank~
-Ack lol, what's with him avoiding eye contact?
The quick-witted Constellations teased him.
Jun-il endured as best he could.
‘I have no emotions... I...’
Patience was his specialty.
* * *
While everyone else went straight up to the exit to hunt goblins...
-Where's this guy going?
-Huh? What's he doing?
-Is he going later? Because he's an attention seeker?
Jun-il briefly stopped by the underground shopping arcade.
He had seen that there was a 1,000-won shop nearby. Fortunately, it was open.
“Here it is.”
He bought a black mask.
-?
-...?
-What is that?
-Is this some middle-school edgelord thing?
-A mask?
The Constellations were puzzled.
Jun-il did not bother explaining.
‘It's good to become famous among the Constellations, but having my actual face exposed in this world would be troublesome.’
Besides, would it not be ridiculous to suddenly explain something like that out loud to himself?
He quietly put the mask in his bag and headed for the exit.
* * *
‘This way, then.’
The location posted by the person who had requested help on Gaksalbeop.
As the announcement had said, it was a low-rise apartment complex in Myeonmok-dong.
‘Ten minutes on foot...’
There were still ten minutes to go, but screams were already reaching him.
“Ah, aaaaah!”
People ran wildly through a red light at the crosswalk.
After all, green was chasing them.
Goblins.
“Skreee! Squeak!”
The goblins had already flooded this far.
“S-save me!”
They were probably all Awakeners.
Still, it seemed fear was unavoidable.
Just as Jun-il wondered whether he should help them...
Whoooosh!
A cold wind blew, and every goblin froze solid.
“Skree?!”
“Ghk!”
Someone came over and kicked the frozen goblins.
Crack!
The ice shattered, and the goblins broke into pieces.
“Haa... Haa... Are you all right?”
The owner of the ice magic was a boy in a school uniform.
“Oh, thank you, young man. W-we're all right.”
The fleeing citizens thanked the student.
“Oh, goodness! What kind of shameless mask is that!?”
“Jesus, you scared me. Damn...”
The people had spotted someone and recoiled.
Moon Jun-il.
-Fuck lol
-What is this?
-What's with that gimmick lol
-“Shameless mask” lol
He wore a black cat mask.
‘Huh...? Wh-what?’
The high school boy was startled when he met Jun-il's eyes, but quickly tried to stop him.
“Hey, Cat Hyung? It'll be dangerous if you go that way.”
The student thought the masked Jun-il was an ordinary civilian and tried to hold him back.
“Then why are you coming from there?”
“Ah, I was trying to hunt, but there were too many, so I came back.”
“You were hunting alone?”
“Uh... Yeah. Well... I don't have any friends. I just deal with the ones that come out around the outskirts.”
“Ah.”
Why would he bring up not having friends on his own?
-ㅠㅠㅠ
-I'm cryingㅠㅠㅠ
-Why would you ask him that, asshole?
-Oof.
Jun-il glanced at the Constellations' reactions.
‘So he isn't the protagonist.’
If he were the protagonist, the Constellations would recognize him. That was what Jun-il thought.
“Got it. Keep at it.”
Pat.
Jun-il patted the boy's shoulder and marched toward Myeonmok-dong.
If he was not the protagonist, there was no reason to watch him.
“Huh? If you go there...”
The boy tried to stop Jun-il as he walked into a death trap.
“Skreeeeee!”
Thudthudthudthud!
A huge number of goblins suddenly came charging.
‘Damn it.’
The boy hurried to cast his magic again.
Vroooom!
A large truck suddenly passed by, blocking his view.
‘Huh?’
This was bad.
Startled, the boy canceled his casting.
After the truck passed...
“...Huh?”
The boy was shocked.
“Th-they're all dead?”
All those goblins had been sliced apart.
The Constellations watching the boy were shocked as well.
-?
-Huh?
-Who was that just now?
-Is he the Goblin Slayer???
-Wow.
-No, he's way stronger than this guy. This guy's B-rank too.
* * *
As Jun-il walked into Myeonmok-dong, more and more goblins attacked him.
Click.
Jun-il extended the utility knife blade from two notches to three.
“Skree!”
“Skreeee!”
The goblins charged with red light blazing in their eyes.
Slaaash!
Slash!
The utility knife cut them down like a flash of light.
“Geh... hk?”
The goblins fell without even knowing why they had died.
-Now that's satisfying.
-So refreshing.
-This is the Goblin Slayer!? This is the Goblin Slayer!? This is the Goblin Slayer!?
-But what's with the mask?
-He's a real professional.
-The mask gimmick is a bit much lol
-What is this guy??
-He's kind of weird.
The newly arrived Constellations called Jun-il strange.
‘More than me...’
But the goblins seemed stranger to Jun-il.
‘These bastards are stranger.’
A goblin's purpose in life was to attack people nearby and cause havoc.
In game terms, they were monsters with an extreme aggro-on-sight mechanic.
But their current behavior was lackluster.
Unless Jun-il got very close, they kept ignoring him and running somewhere.
‘Why does it feel like the goblins have a destination?’
A destination.
Leaving all this human prey behind for some other goal was not normal goblin behavior.
Jun-il stepped back and observed the goblins' movements. He repeatedly compared his map app with the area in front of him before reaching a conclusion.
‘Is it there?’
The place where the person had first requested help on Gaksalbeop was.
It seemed there was something there that the goblins wanted.
‘There are not just goblins here.’
Jun-il quickly realized it.
Someone else was here.
Goblins would not have a sense of purpose unless some being was directing them.
Then...
‘Oh.’
Krrrshhh.
Noise filled his vision.
[Hidden Quest Area]
‘A Hidden Quest Area?’
Krrrshhh.
==== ====
Objective: Rescue the VIP
Rew#@(#($@&$
*@$A38@()
==== ====
‘Rescue the VIP?’
The rest of the text was corrupted.
But the objective was clear.
It was a Hidden Quest to rescue someone.
Jun-il's eyes blinked beneath the mask.
‘Can everyone see this?’
No.
That could not be it.
Then it would not be a Hidden Quest.
He checked the Constellations' reactions.
-There are so many goblins lol
-Wow, this place is a jackpot.
-He could hit level 10 here??
Everyone was talking about something else.
‘Only I can see it.’
Past the Constellations' comments, even their numbers... and now the quest area.
For some reason, Jun-il could see more and more.
Then it happened.
“Save meeeee! Gaksalbeop!”
Someone screamed in pain.
They were calling for Gaksalbeop.
‘Is that the one?’
It was probably the person who had posted on the community.
“Save meeeee!”
Jun-il adjusted his mask and kicked off.
Boom!
He leaped in an instant, all but flying from rooftop to rooftop.
-Damn.
-Ohhh.
-The hero arrives.
-???: If I call him the Line 4 Goblin Slayer... would that explain it?
-Is he going to save them?
-Now that's satisfying.
-What's with his physical stats?
-Is he wearing the mask for a hero gimmick? lol
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