WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Seven-Time Hero Goes Live ◈
Chapter 9: Modern Fantasy (3)
──────
A man had slaughtered the goblins one after another in an instant.
Silence filled the subway car.
“Keep those partition doors blocked.”
The moment he spoke, everyone listened.
“Ah... Y-yes.”
The first thing he asked them to do was barricade the doors.
“If you open them now, more people will die. Half the people in this car will die.”
Weighing human lives was far too difficult for modern people.
And paradoxically, that led to far more deaths.
Jun-il had made that mistake far too often during his first and second runs.
“Block them with heavy things. Briefcases, fire extinguishers, backpacks... This isn't the time to be picky.”
He had quickly come to accept that kind of calculation from his third run onward.
And now, after seven runs?
“If we hold out until Dongsjak Station, everyone in this car lives.”
He was a god at weighing lives.
In an instant, he cut off the passengers in the other cars and chose the lives in this one.
-Damn, his judgment.
-Who is this guy?
-Other cars are all dying lol, but this one lives?
-He can actually save them?
“Yes! W-we're blocking it!”
“Help over here! Does anyone have a suitcase or something?!”
Thud-thud-thump!
Thud, thud...
Thud...
The sounds of people pounding on the partition doors and screaming for help gradually faded.
Standing in the middle of the car, Jun-il watched both doors and repeated to himself.
‘We're almost there.’
[This stop is Dongsjak, Dongsjak Station. The doors will open on the—]
The train gradually slowed.
Every passenger stared only at the doors.
They wanted to escape this hell as fast as possible.
It was like when a coin chart suddenly crashed.
They panic-sold, desperate to get out of that hell one second sooner.
That was why Jun-il shouted.
“We aren't getting off at this station!”
“Pardon...?”
“We're not getting off! We'll all die if we do!”
“B-but you said to hold out until Dongsjak Station!”
Someone objected.
Even after seeing Jun-il kill every goblin at an absurd speed.
It couldn't be helped.
Defying instinct was just that difficult.
‘That's why I lost all my money.’
Jun-il understood that, too.
“We're holding out until Dongsjak Station because the people in the other cars need to get off. They'll take all the goblins with them. Our car will be safe. So even when the doors open, don't get off.”
“!”
The orders came from him as smoothly as flowing water.
‘Jun-il... What's with him?’
Suyeon had been so shocked that she could only stand there with her mouth open.
Every judgment he made was rational.
More than anything else...
‘How can he be so... calm?’
Somehow, he looked more relaxed with monsters suddenly appearing than when he was eating spicy pork.
‘He practically wolfed down that spicy pork like someone was going to take it from him.’
Right now, he looked no different from when he lay on a campus bench.
Meanwhile, Lee Chang-hun shouted beside them, veins bulging in his neck.
“What are you even talking about?! Who knows what else might come out here?! I'm getting off!”
He looked frantic and anxious.
Without realizing it, Suyeon subtly moved away from Chang-hun.
-What an idiot lol.
-What a frustrating bastard.
-Doesn't he die?
The Constellations erupted.
Jun-il had expected that reaction.
‘Yeah. There's always one like that.’
As though he had been waiting, Jun-il spoke.
“I won't stop anyone who wants to leave. But everyone staying here?”
“Yes?”
“If anyone gets off and tries to come back in, kick them away.”
“!”
-Kick them away lol.
-LOLLLLLLLL.
-Lmao, that works.
-That's insane lol.
“K-kick them?”
“Yes! You have to kick them! If they bring the goblins back, at least a few more people will die. Don't let them back on, no matter what.”
The people hesitated at such a cruel measure.
“Let's listen to him! I'll do it!”
A man in military uniform shouted.
“M-me too!”
“I think he's right.”
A few sturdy-looking men beside him boldly agreed with Jun-il.
The mood in the car completely changed.
Getting off was their choice, but coming back was not.
Hissss!
The subway doors opened.
“Anyone getting off, get off now!” Jun-il shouted.
“...”
Chang-hun only anxiously stared out the window.
He did not move his feet.
Instead...
Thududududu!
People flooded out of the nearby cars amid screams.
“Aaaaaaagh!”
“S-save me! Save meee!”
Whoosh!
The goblins in those cars leaped out after them.
The goblins almost looked as though they were smiling.
“Kyaaaaaak!”
“Kik-kik-kik!”
The hunting party had begun.
Killing those who ran away was far too easy.
Stab!
Stab!
The goblins jumped onto people's heads and stabbed their carotid arteries.
Just as Jun-il had mastered his own way of killing goblins, goblins learned how to kill humans with their very first steps.
Thwack! Thwack!
“Aaaagh!”
“Ghk! Let go! Let go! Save me! Save meee!”
The platform became a sea of blood in an instant.
[Please mind the gap between the train and platform when alighting...]
Thump...!
Bodies became caught in the wide gap between the train and platform.
The red-eyed goblins stepped on them as they rushed out to kill more people.
“Lee Chang-hun. Aren't you getting off?”
When Jun-il asked, Chang-hun simply lowered his head.
-LOLLLLLL.
-Lol.
-Nice.
-He still had to ask him lol.
The Constellations loved it.
‘These guys...’
Jun-il studied their reactions.
‘They're similar.’
They certainly had similar tendencies to the Constellations he had met when he went to the medieval world.
Back then, too, they had loved it whenever he threw a line like that at some fool acting up.
‘Then... Pam really did this. That bastard...’
Jun-il's anger toward Pam grew even stronger.
He had no idea what Pam was thinking.
Pam had said they should make a good living as professional heroes.
‘I just bought an apartment, and Pam sends goblins after me?’
If gates really started opening everywhere like in some novel or comic?
‘Will housing prices hold?’
No chance.
He could tolerate many things, but he absolutely could not tolerate housing prices falling right after he bought a home.
Getting burned by coin investments was enough.
Hissss...
The subway doors closed again, and the train headed for the next station.
“Haa... Ha...”
“W-we lived.”
Plop.
Only then did the passengers relax and slump onto the subway floor and seats.
They all seemed terrified that goblins might somehow get inside.
Then they thanked Jun-il.
“Um... Student. Thank you. If it weren't for you... so many people would have died.”
“That's right. Thank you so much!”
“Thank you!”
Jun-il's face had been stiff with anger at Pam.
The corners of his mouth faintly rose.
It reminded him of his days as a hero.
‘Well... It does feel good to get some exercise again.’
* * *
Jun-il's group safely got off at the station near the university.
“Thanks to the goblins, we got seats on the subway.”
Jun-il said it as a thoughtless joke.
Everyone had gotten off at the station after Dongsjak, so they really had ridden in an empty train.
The others had apparently worried that more goblins might appear.
But when Jun-il told them it was safe to leave, they got off with relief. Only Suyeon and Chang-hun followed Jun-il to the station near the university.
“...What did you say, you bastard? You're glad goblins came out?”
Chang-hun picked a fight.
“Jun-il... Th-that's a bit too harsh. People died...”
Suyeon joined in for no reason.
But emotional pressure about people dying could never work on Jun-il.
He had spent nearly thirty years as a hero.
Now he knew.
‘People die.’
People were born, then they died.
If someone meant to become a hero took every death seriously, even more people would die.
That was how his first run had gone.
He had cried out, “People are dying here!” and nearly gotten everyone killed.
“No, Chang-hun. What are you doing here? Didn't you get off at Dongsjak Station?”
So Jun-il simply shot back like that and brushed it off.
“Pff...”
Suyeon barely held back a laugh.
-LOLLLL, fuck.
-Nice.
-He says what needs saying! Jun-Cola!
-That feels so refreshing.
-Wow, when the real game starts, I need to subscribe lol.
The Constellations were excited, too.
Chang-hun's expression was quite a sight, but Jun-il paid closer attention to the Constellations' words.
‘The real game? Subscribe?’
If there was a real game, then everything until now had been a tutorial, and the real thing had not begun yet.
Did subscribing mean something like subscribing to YouTube?
‘Something is different from before.’
The Constellations had personalities similar to those he had met in the past.
But the system seemed somewhat different.
He recalled the words that had first appeared.
[Storyboard 3.0]
[The latest open-world streaming system is being applied.]
‘Streaming...’
Perhaps they were no longer reading stories as books. Maybe they were watching as though this were a broadcast.
‘What kind of bullshit is this?’
Jun-il was in an especially bad mood toward Pam at the moment, so he grumbled inwardly.
* * *
After parting with the others, Jun-il returned to his studio apartment.
The moment he arrived home, messages from someone kept coming.
Bzzzt.
Bzzzt.
[Suyeon: You live on your own during break too, right?]
[Suyeon: Thank you so much for today. ㅠㅠ I'll buy you a meal next time.]
[Suyeon: But what do you think that was today? Actual goblins? lol]
They were messages from Suyeon.
‘She must be anxious.’
The reason she was messaging him was obvious.
Jun-il was the only person she could talk to about what had happened today.
Lee Chang-hun was there too, but he had nearly lost his mind near the end.
It was only natural that she wanted to rely on Jun-il, who had stayed composed and even saved her.
Considering what she had gone through, it was fortunate she had not asked him to guard her home.
[Suyeon: Wow. We made the news lol.]
Another message arrived.
She said they had made the news.
“The news?”
Jun-il opened a news portal.
He did not even need to search.
The front page was covered with stories about what had happened that day.
[Breaking: “Strange lifeforms” appear on the Seoul subway? Numerous casualties, investigation underway...]
[Dongsjak-gu goblins: 79 dead or injured so far...]
[Bukhansan hikers claim “goblin attack,” more than 20 hikers confirmed dead]
One article had slightly more views than the rest.
[“Line 4 Hero” appears amid disaster: Witnesses say, “Everyone in our car survived”]
It was probably the article Suyeon meant.
They had been on that subway.
Jun-il looked only at the photo before immediately scrolling down to the comments.
-Damn, that judgment is insane. Former special forces or something?
-But didn't he get everyone in the other cars killed?
└Who did he get killed? He only killed goblins lol.
└For real lol. Goblin Slayer.
└Calling them goblins, what a bunch of loser gamers lol.
└If those aren't goblins, then what the hell are they? Lol.
└Even if a goblin appeared right in front of you, you'd go “lol loser gamers” and die lol.
-Wow, he's fucking cool.
-The friends beside him are wearing university department jackets. He seems like a student at a prestigious school. What an admirable young man.
-But how did he kill the goblins? With his fists?
└Maybe he picked up the goblins' knives and fought with them?
└Can't see clearly.
Most of the comments expressed amazement and praise for Jun-il.
[Suyeon: I think people recognized us in our school community too?]
[Suyeon: (Link)]
When he followed the link, there really was a post about him.
[Isn't the Line 4 Goblin Slayer from our school? Someone with him wore our department jacket.]
-Probably just a friend?
-They were headed toward our school.
-Does anyone know him?
└Can't see his face well.
└He has handsome-guy vibes somehow.
└Stop fantasizing.
-Whether he's from our school or not, his moves are badass.
└For real...
└His leadership is crazy too. Maybe ROTC?
Here, too, people were curious about Jun-il and praised him.
During his days as a hero, he had become the hero of many villages.
He thought he was used to being praised.
But this felt different.
‘Not bad.’
Jun-il grinned and rubbed his chin.
Ding.
[Congratulations on clearing the tutorial!]
A message suddenly appeared.
[You have been selected as Awakeners.]
Jun-il blinked.
‘What is this?’
Judging by the wording, it did not seem like he was the only one who could see it.
Sure enough, posts like these appeared on the school community.
[This is insane. An Awakener? What is this status window? lol]
[After goblins, now a status window...? lol I've waited all my life for this.]
[Is this status window real? Fuck, does that mean we don't have to go back to school?]
[Status window! Fuck lol, all you popular pricks are dead lol.]
As if they were being told to enjoy the shock, no window appeared for a while.
Then, about five minutes later.
Ding-ding.
[Awakeners, you are being provided with a “Random Roulette.”]
Pop!
An actual roulette wheel appeared before his eyes.
S, A, B, C, and other grades were written on it.
[The roulette assigns a potential grade to each Awakener.]
Whirrrrr!
The roulette wheel began spinning on its own.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
