WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Seven-Time Hero Goes Live ◈
Chapter 42: Department Head Necromancer (3)
──────
[A Han River-view apartment, you bastard!]
Shunk!
When Jun-il first drove his knife into the Department Head Necromancer.
“What the!?”
Flap flap!
Ram happily beat her wings.
“If you make a joke that bad, you deserve to die!”
“R-Ram!?”
“No, I mean... Wait, what do we do now!?”
Ram had unconsciously started cheering for Yulian before coming to her senses.
“Is he seriously going to kill everyone here!? This has fuck-all to do with the Elf Quest! Why is he killing them!? Is making a lame joke a crime!?”
From her perspective, she had no idea why Yulian had suddenly gone berserk.
Wasn't he supposed to pretend to be a Porter, find the source of the demonic energy, and leave?
“If this keeps up, the story will get tangled...”
Yulian had little to gain from killing the necromancers.
Most Constellations did not even know this was happening.
But it would put Ram's side in a difficult position.
The events prepared for Kang Hae-il could be seriously disrupted.
Then Sam said something unexpected.
“No. This is actually good.”
“What?”
“Yulian is unlikely to make it out of here.”
“Why?”
“He'll die. Based on my analysis of combat strength and tactics, the odds are very high this time.”
“!”
Beep.
Sam really was measuring something with the monocle over one eye.
“This is a disadvantageous fight for Yulian. And he started it himself.”
“Oh!”
Ram's eyes sparkled.
“Really?”
Ram felt hope at the thought that she might be able to kill off that thorn in her side, Yulian.
“Yes. He entered a necromancer den and killed necromancers. It's the same as entering a beehive and provoking the bees.”
He had revealed himself as an enemy in the middle of hostile territory.
No matter how strong Yulian was, surviving after doing something like this would be difficult.
“Yulian made a mistake. He must think these are goblins. But every one of them is a human being capable of thinking for themselves.”
That was right.
These necromancers were all human.
And weren't they all Necromancers with B-rank potential?
They knew the terrain inside this cave, and they vastly outnumbered him.
Their numbers would only grow.
“If they start pressuring him with thralls in this cave, Yulian's fighting style will put him at a serious disadvantage.”
What if they pressed him in this narrow cave with such overwhelming numbers?
Yulian would inevitably be pushed back.
“Kirira! You dug your own grave! Being too confident was your downfall.”
“That's right.”
Shunk!
Shunk!
Even as Yulian diligently cut down the necromancers, Sam predicted victory.
“Yulian's way of fighting is not very effective against large numbers. He'll have to fight a very exhausting battle.”
Boom!
Even when he wiped out a group of thralls with gravity magic midway through.
“Corpses are everywhere, and there is still plenty of mana left. They can simply raise more and repeat the process. If anything, it's good that he used his gravity magic now.”
“Kirira! Good! Raise more of them and crush him! You idiots!”
Sam was not wrong.
The necromancers really did have the advantage.
This was on an entirely different level from the Champion Goblin dungeon.
But Sam had made one mistake.
As he said, these were all intelligent human beings.
[Crazy... He can use magic too?]
[He's way too strong. What is that guy?]
[We can't win... He's a monster.]
Even if they had been corrupted by Black Magic, they had been ordinary modern people only a short while ago.
They had no qualms about killing others, but once their own lives were in danger, their judgment clouded.
Or perhaps that cowardly, petty urge to survive was the true nature of Dark Mages.
“W-what are you doing!? Why are you all scared stiff and doing nothing!?”
Ram was dumbfounded.
There were corpses everywhere.
Why were they not raising more?
[Listen up, every last one of you!]
The moment Yulian shouted.
“Have they lost the will to fight?”
The status messages above the necromancers' heads gave the answer.
[Fear]
[Fear]
[Fear]
.
.
.
They were trembling in fear.
They faced a single enemy, with favorable terrain and overwhelming numbers.
Yet the thought that they themselves might be sacrificed first weighed them down.
For the first time, those who had only ever hunted had become prey.
[You can't beat me anyway.]
Yulian knew this trait of theirs all too well.
[Starting now! I'll spare the first five who cooperate!]
He gave them a path to abandon their comrades and save themselves.
“Kirira!? Who would go along with th...”
Whoosh!
The necromancers immediately crawled out.
“...What?”
“!”
Ram and Sam met each other's eyes.
“Hey.”
Ram's hand slowly moved toward her golf club.
Sam quickly thought of an excuse.
“Uh, um... This must be the necromancers' strategy.”
“Strategy?”
Ram's hand paused on its way to the club.
“Yes. They plan to let five survive first, then stab Yulian in the back once he lets his guard down. It would mean fewer losses than a direct battle, wouldn't it? Yulian is strong, after all.”
“...”
“They're necromancers, so they must be smart. This is a much safer method.”
Ram gave it some thought.
It did sound somewhat plausible.
“That makes sense. But only five surviving is too few, isn't it? They're choosing that already?”
“Once the five are decided, what if they all stab Yulian together? Isn't deception the foundation of war?”
“...Ah?”
Ram clapped her hands.
“That makes sense!”
Then she tilted her head.
“But what did they call this in Blue Zone dimension slang? The four-syllable thing...”
“Zhuge Liang?”
“Wishful thinking, you idiot!”
Whoosh!
Ram's golf club bent like a bow again today.
“Eeeek!”
“Are you kidding me!? Look at their status! Can't you see they have Fear!? Like they'd ever stab him in the back!?”
Thwack! Thump!
“K-keek! N-no, Ram! P-please calm down!”
In truth, Ram's fists were soft as cotton, and even the golf club was only a balloon shaped to look hard.
But Sam flailed his hands and begged in order to placate her.
“B-but five will survive, right!?”
“...”
“They can plan for the future! The boss isn't even here yet! The story can still develop from here!”
“...”
Phew.
Ram finally lowered her golf club.
‘Ha... Five, huh.’
He would spare five.
That was at least one variable.
If that happened, the necromancers could plan for the future.
Their boss was not here, and as long as the boss lived, they could gather again.
“But... do you think he'll actually let them live?”
The problem was whether Yulian would truly spare them.
“Come on. A Hero wouldn't break a promise like that.”
“...I-is that so?”
“Of course.”
* * *
“Alright, next question.”
As Jun-il asked quiz questions, he glanced to the side.
[Current Constellations Watching: 847]
The number of Constellations, which had fallen into the 700s, was slowly beginning to rise again.
-What kind of insanely fun situation is this lol
-Are they gathered for class or something?
-I came because I heard necromancers were playing Squid Game~
-What is this lol
Constellations wandering nearby had poked their heads in because of the interesting music, then stayed because the situation was so strange.
They found it funny that the necromancers had gathered together and were raising their hands to answer Jun-il's questions.
But quite a few of the Constellations who had already been watching were unhappy.
-Ugh, I wish he'd just kill all these fuckers.
-Why is he even sparing scum like this? Just kill them all.
-He can't kill them all. Honestly, he's at a disadvantage.
-He's not really sparing them, is he? This is so frustrating.
-L4GS even saves necromancer farmers.
They were angry that Jun-il had said he would spare five.
“You. Answer.”
“Yes! We obtain the offerings from villages nearby!”
That was the answer to Jun-il's question about where they obtained sacrifices for the altar.
“What? Don't people think it's strange when children disappear from their village?”
‘H-how did he know they were children?’
The necromancer panicked.
“Th-that...”
Snap!
The others raised their hands.
“If you don't answer, someone else gets the chance.”
“The villagers! They think the children went missing because of monsters! Because they fell victim to our thralls! So technically, it's true!”
They answered quickly and clearly.
-Is he a Private?
-The children... Fuck.
-So these bastards are why kids said they saw ghosts. Fuck.
-Ugh, do they really want to live that badly?
-Fucking trash.
After hearing the answer, Jun-il could understand it to some extent.
‘Law enforcement isn't functioning properly either. There probably isn't even an investigation.’
The framework of society was barely holding together, but it was very different from before.
A few missing children were no longer considered much of an incident.
In times like these, the weak went unprotected, and people like this seized the gaps to prosper.
“Good. You pass.”
“Thank you!”
Snap!
The Private Necromancer marched stiffly over to join the survivor group.
They exchanged nods and shook hands.
“Good work.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Nice job, kid.”
“Yes, sir.”
They were even encouraging one another.
Three people had now survived.
-Ah, they're so pathetic lol
-They passed Squid Game. They have to do this much.
-Crazy lol
-Calling him sir lol
“Next. Question. Where is the altar?”
Everyone raised their hands.
When Jun-il pointed to one, the necromancer eagerly answered.
After hearing the location and asking a few follow-up questions, Jun-il nodded.
“Okay. You pass.”
“Woooo!”
The survivors cheered together.
“Nice job, kid!”
“You're alive!”
“The survivors are the strong ones! Hahaha!”
Four had gathered now, with only one spot remaining.
The survivors were growing more excited.
But there was no way Jun-il would look kindly on that.
“Hey. You there.”
“Yes...?”
“Did you come here to have fun?”
The air froze.
-Hahahahahaha
-Hahahahaha
-That expression lol
-So murderous lol
-Those fuckers are getting way too comfortable.
Moon Jun-il was a veteran who had fought in war for thirty years.
Leading a Hero Party was not as romantic as the media made it seem.
He was essentially commanding people whose individual combat power equaled that of a battalion.
Naturally, a leader had to instill basic discipline in the members.
In the first run, he treated them as friends. In the second, as comrades.
But from the third run onward, the Hero Party had been nothing more than soldiers to Yulian, and the party's efficiency had soared from that point on.
In other words, discipline was Jun-il's specialty.
“Did you think this was some retreat? What are you congratulating each other for?”
To him, the actions of people who were no different from enemy prisoners made the perfect opening.
“...S-sorry!”
Their apology came out as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
-Nice.
-Ah, I want to beat them to a pulp.
-Fuck lol
-He's really pissed lol
-Understandable lol. Corpse-fucking bastards acting like that.
Anger?
No.
He had simply found an opening.
“If you think you're at a retreat, I'll make it a proper retreat.”
“Yes...?”
Jun-il pointed at the four who had been set to survive.
“Those four. And all of you here. I'll give you a chance to change everything.”
The many necromancers who had not been selected to survive raised their heads.
A murmur spread through them.
“J-jackpot.”
“Crazy... Please...!”
“T-thank you!”
In contrast, the survivors' faces turned pale.
They looked almost as pale as the corpses beside them.
‘You're changing it now?’
‘What kind of bullshit is this?’
‘Damn retreat meta!’
‘I told you not to get chatty!’
Ignoring them, Jun-il continued.
“I'm going to ask one very important question. This time, you don't need to raise your hands. Just shout the answer. Got it?”
“...Yes!”
“Everyone who answers this properly lives. If you can't answer, or you're even a little late...”
Swipe.
Jun-il drew a finger across his throat.
“You die immediately.”
“!”
Gulp.
Everyone stared only at Jun-il's mouth.
“Alright. There is only one question. Whoever answers first lives. Anyone who answers at the same time also lives. Anyone who answers late dies.”
They all nodded as the sound of their heartbeats seemed to fill the cave.
-Is he seriously letting them all live?
-What is this lol
-They're all going to live, fuck.
-Huh?
-Fuck, if he lets them all live, I'm really dropping this.
-Fuck, is this where I quit?
-This is so frustrating.
The Constellations grumbled.
It was exactly the retreat meta.
They had thought that, aside from the few survivors, these disgusting necromancers would all die.
Wasn't this practically the same as letting them all live?
They could not understand.
But what happened next was even harder to understand.
“Where is your boss?”
The moment he asked that question, Jun-il played the BGM.
[Cool BGM]
The music that symbolized his exploits.
[Playing]
From that moment, time seemed to slow.
“...!”
The necromancers scrambled to their feet, spitting as they shouted something.
They twisted their bodies to survive, veins bulging in their necks.
Contracted pupils. Bloodshot eyes.
It was like watching a scene from somewhere at a racetrack in slow motion.
If they spoke even one second late, they would die.
That thought drove them mad.
Fwoosh!
“!”
Flames consumed them all.
Fire surged over every body, and in an instant, the blaze devoured them from head to toe.
Not just one or two.
Every necromancer began burning at once.
“U-uaaah! Aaaah!”
Instead of answers to the question, they screamed.
“Huh? I was going to keep my promise. Why are you all burning?”
The necromancers knew perfectly well that was bullshit.
Because...
Jun-il had struck a pose as he watched the burning scene.
Snap!
The L4GS pose.
‘Y-you...?’
‘L-L4GS?’
‘You son of a...’
Every necromancer saw it, their eyes widening with rage.
But it was already too late.
Their eyeballs were melting in the heat.
The cave grew hot as an oven, and they all burned to ash.
-The song lol
-Crazy lol
-The mark, holy shit.
-Lol <(_ _)/
-The birth of a villain...
-Wow lol
-Fuck.
-Nice.
-He killed them all at once???
-What a relief!
-L4GS! L4GS! L4GS! L4GS! L4GS! L4GS!
-Would saying “Goblin Slayer of Line 4” have counted as an answer!? <(_ _)/ Would saying “Goblin Slayer of Line 4” have counted as an answer!? <(_ _)/ Would saying “Goblin Slayer of Line 4” have counted as an answer!? <(_ _)/
.
.
.
Ding.
[Hidden Quest Complete!]
Footnotes:
“Wishful thinking” renders 희망회로, Korean online slang for an implausibly optimistic chain of reasoning. Sam's answer, Zhuge Liang, refers to the famed Chinese strategist.
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