WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
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◈ The World Is Not a Game ◈
Chapter 22
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“So Chuck had a reason for telling us not to worry. That's beyond anything I imagined.”
Inside the main group's concealment field, which Hyeokjin had left behind, the Closer with the silver gauntlets watched Hyeokjin and spoke in admiration, with a hint of relief.
Hyeokjin fought with wings spread wide, like an angel depicted in a cathedral's stained glass. But the wings on Hyeokjin's back were neither white nor soft.
Their black feathers gave off a dull, purplish sheen.
The steel teeth moved so quickly that they left afterimages, sweeping through the surroundings like a storm and tearing apart everything they touched with a deafening roar. Meanwhile, flames overflowing with warp energy poured endlessly from Hyeokjin's left hand, burning the monsters rushing in.
Noise and light.
Those two intense stimuli erupted without pause, grating on the monsters' nerves. Drawn to them, the monsters charged toward Hyeokjin like moths to a flame.
Thanks to that, the main group, hidden behind a camouflage screen and a warp energy barrier, had enough breathing room to deal with only the occasional monster that wandered inside on its way toward Hyeokjin.
“That weapon on Hyeokjin's left hand, the Incineration Cannon, is incredibly powerful. I thought so when I first saw it, too. And unlike last time, when it exploded after a single shot, Hyeokjin keeps firing it.”
“That's because Raven Wing acts as a heat sink. With those wings attached, there's no need to worry about an explosion from overheating. Don't worry so much. Fully armed like that, Hyeokjin is stronger than we are. You're looking at a collection of weapons humanity's finest engineers spent years developing.”
Chuck grinned and answered confidently when one of the Closers spoke with a hint of concern. But despite that bold assurance, she continued in a tense voice, her brow still furrowed.
“But Hyeokjin isn't controlling that power efficiently. It's just being fired off wildly. Even we'd collapse before long if we used our power like that. And Hyeokjin has far less power than we do... No, wait.”
As if she had noticed something strange, the Closer suddenly stopped speaking and narrowed her eyes at Hyeokjin. A moment later, she tilted her head in confusion and spoke.
“Something's strange. I can sense a different, foreign warp energy mixed into what Hyeokjin's releasing. It's definitely from a person, not a monster. Two people, at that?”
The other Closers nodded in agreement.
Everyone's warp energy had its own distinct wave pattern. The energy Hyeokjin was releasing now was very different from before, when it had felt almost excessively bland.
Now it was as strange and distinctive as that of any other S-rank Closer.
Nikki, who knew what was causing that foreign feeling, gave a brief, bitter smile even as she worked on opening the dimensional portal. Chuck clapped lightly to draw the attention of the Closers watching Hyeokjin.
“That's the effect of the ‘power-up’ equipment we brought from outside. Now, now. Hyeokjin's doing well, so let's stop watching and pay more attention to the warp energy barrier. If a monster gets inside the camouflage screen and then makes it back out alive, we'll have trouble. Hyeokjin's risking life and limb to buy us time. We can't let that go to waste.”
The Closers nodded at Chuck's answer and looked away from Hyeokjin, sharpening their senses as they watched their surroundings more carefully.
They were curious about the foreign warp energy Hyeokjin was using, but they couldn't simply stand there staring.
This was a precious chance that Colm and Hyeokjin were sacrificing their lives to give them.
If they let curiosity distract them from keeping watch and wasted that chance, they would never be able to face either of them.
Nearly every monster in the area was focused on Hyeokjin's noisy rampage. A few monsters heading that way happened to enter the main group's camouflage screen and protective barrier, only to be torn apart.
Then...
“It's done!”
At Nikki's joyous shout, an enormous door made of black mist appeared in front of the main group.
The moment the dimensional portal opened, powerful warp waves broke through the Closers' warp energy barrier. Every monster in the area turned toward the main group, but they had noticed too late.
The Closers hurried through the misty doorway without any cover, leaving their backs completely exposed.
Nearby monsters immediately charged toward the door, but before they could reach it, the entrance the Closers had passed through scattered like smoke.
As the monsters frantically clawed through the black mist left behind...
A pillar of fire overflowing with warp energy struck from above.
It was a large column of orange flame, roughly three meters across.
The monsters prowling around the spot where the Closers had vanished were engulfed in fire. Those that escaped the flames looked up toward the air above, where the pillar had come from.
There, they saw the one who had fired it at them.
A human looked down at them with metal wings spread wide and a blazing flame in one hand.
Cold red lenses stared at the monsters without a trace of emotion. Robbed of their prey, the monsters rushed at the remaining victim with fury in their eyes.
Episode 0. The Final Act
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Thunk!
The blow to the head made Hyeokjin's mind reel for a moment.
It shattered not only the mask that doubled as a gas mask, but also the artificial right eye. Fortunately, it failed to break the skull reinforced with moonlight iron.
As soon as the impact exceeded a certain threshold, the shock absorber installed inside the skull activated to prevent a concussion. Hyeokjin reflexively swung a wing in the direction the attack had come from.
Keeeeeen!
The wing sliced through the air with a chilling screech, but struck nothing.
The counterattack had been almost immediate, yet the enemy had already moved away.
Hyeokjin quickly moved the remaining artificial left eye to identify the attacking monster.
It had a translucent body and looked like a monkey. Even Hyeokjin, who had memorized the entire list of monsters discovered so far, had never seen it before.
‘An undiscovered monster. Its estimated level is...’
Its appearance and size were similar to a monkey's, but the warp energy waves flowing from its body were far beyond A-rank.
It also moved so quickly that even S-rank Closers with close-combat special abilities would have no hope of keeping up.
There was no doubt about it. This was an S-rank monster that had yet to be identified.
‘An unidentified S-rank monster, of all things. And at a time like this.’
Hyeokjin worried his lip at the sight of the unknown monster.
In truth, there was nothing particularly strange about an unfamiliar S-rank monster appearing. Since the discovery of shadow worlds, humanity had cleared S-rank dungeons fewer than a hundred times in total.
And of those hundred or so clears, roughly eighty had been repeated clears of the same dungeons.
There were few successful clears on record, and the range of dungeons explored was narrow.
Naturally, much remained unknown.
‘I don't know its abilities, so killing it takes priority. It's too far away for the wings. The Incineration Cannon, then.’
Hyeokjin finished the calculation in an instant, turned the Incineration Cannon away from the monsters pouring in, and fired at the monkey-like creature.
It fled at a terrifying speed, using the surrounding monsters as shields. While Hyeokjin's attention was briefly focused on it, signs of another attack came from the right.
‘!?’
Hyeokjin couldn't see it, but could sense it.
It was a terrifying warp energy attack, far beyond anything the wings could block. The Thunder Destroyer, one of the S-rank monsters Hyeokjin had shaken off, seemed to have caught up and begun attacking from a distance.
With two or three seconds of warning, Hyeokjin would have leaped straight into the air and begun evasive maneuvers. Unfortunately, the ruined right eye meant Hyeokjin hadn't noticed the attack in time.
Claaang!
Hyeokjin hurriedly moved the right wing to block it. The moment the attack struck, a tremendous crash like a metal bell bursting apart rang out, and Hyeokjin was sent flying as if hit by a dump truck.
After being thrown dozens of meters, Hyeokjin quickly braced a hand on one knee, stood up, and checked the damage.
‘...’
Cracks spread through the right wing from the point of impact. Sparks flew across the entire right side with a Bzzzt! When Hyeokjin tried to move the wing, it stayed stuck as if something had caught inside, making a Clunk! Clunk! noise.
The moment Hyeokjin confirmed that the right wing was completely wrecked, it became clear that the end was near.
The wings' firepower was one reason Hyeokjin had lasted this long against a swarm that included S-rank monsters. But their superior flight capability, which had allowed Hyeokjin to evade the monsters, had played a much greater part.
Now that a wing was broken, escape by flight was no longer possible. All that remained was to fight the endless tide of monsters here until they crushed Hyeokjin to death.
Even with that death sentence hanging overhead, there was no time for despair.
More A-rank monsters had already formed and were charging in with hideous cries. Hyeokjin stamped down with combat boots on those rising from the floor to grab at his ankles, while punching holes through their heads with quick shots from the Incineration Cannon. Those approaching from the left were cut to pieces by the wing.
But monsters were still approaching from the right, where the other wing remained useless.
‘The Incineration Cannon? No, that won't work.’
Hyeokjin briefly considered blasting them with the Incineration Cannon on the left hand, then immediately abandoned the idea.
Half of the wings that served as heat sinks were no longer working. Spraying flames over a wide area like a flamethrower would make the Incineration Cannon very likely to overload and explode.
With a reluctant expression, Hyeokjin violently swung the large bladed glove fitted to the right hand, its blades shaped like a hawk's talons.
Talon of Raven.
Like the Incineration Cannon, it was a weapon designed for use against S-rank monsters. This close-combat weapon had a built-in device that generated a special force field, destroying its targets by breaking their molecular bonds.
It was immensely powerful, but it had to be swung at close range. Generating the force field consumed a tremendous amount of warp energy, and the field also partially destroyed the user's body when it formed. For those reasons, Hyeokjin had kept it as a last resort.
Everything in the path of the bladed claws came apart in clean pieces.
Not only the A-rank monsters charging recklessly forward, but even the monkey-like S-rank stealth monster, whose approach Hyeokjin hadn't noticed.
Enduring the terrible drain on warp energy, Hyeokjin repeatedly sliced apart the monsters attacking from the right. Once there was a little room to breathe, Hyeokjin quickly used the claws to tear off the right wing, which had become nothing more than dead weight.
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