WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
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◈ The World Is Not a Game ◈
Chapter 4
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The discovery of warp energy, which was highly compatible with living organisms, had led to explosive advances in bionics. The crowning achievement of that technology was the augmented prosthetic, an artificial body that bonded with the human body at the cellular level.
These were not simple artificial limbs. They were artificial bodies created by imitating the mechanisms of living organisms.
They surpassed real flesh in almost every way. One of their few drawbacks was that they required more energy to move, increasing the wearer’s metabolism and oxygen needs.
But that only applied to ordinary people who couldn’t control warp energy.
Skilled use of warp energy could replace some of the metabolic processes needed to stay alive. As a result, Closers with a certain level of ability had little trouble breathing even after replacing missing body parts with prosthetics.
Yet Hyeokjin, who had just entered, was sensitive to his oxygen supply... That meant his skills were so poor that the warp energy he replenished in real time couldn’t keep up with his prosthetics’ consumption.
“...We wasted two days waiting for someone this worthless? Even now, more than a hundred of my countrymen are dying every day to fill the gap I’ve left behind!”
The man’s hollow smile twisted in an instant, and a chilling presence focused on Hyeokjin.
The pressure seemed strong enough to crush solid iron.
At the same time, the prosthetics embedded in Hyeokjin’s body detected the hostile change around him and began whirring into motion. Hyeokjin naturally took a defensive stance as well.
As the mood turned so threatening that a fight seemed about to break out, Nikki gave a cold smile and addressed the man directing his killing intent at Hyeokjin.
“Watch your mouth. Even if you don’t make it onto this expedition, that old guy will definitely be going.”
“...What?”
“Well, I suppose you can say that because you’ve never gone in with him. Only people who’ve entered a dungeon with ‘Mr. Vanilla’ understand his true value. You could call him a one-man elite support squad.”
Nikki gave a casual reply while playing with her shoulder-length black hair. The American S-rank Closers who had entered dungeons with Hyeokjin all nodded in agreement.
While the man stared, slightly stunned by how many people agreed, Nikki smiled and continued.
“As you know, the way you clear a dungeon changes completely depending on whether you have a support squad. Right?”
The man readily nodded at Nikki’s question.
The total amount of supplies they could take into a shadow world was determined by the “warp waves” emitted by the dungeon’s gate.
The moment the total amount of material that passed through the gate between the shadow world and reality exceeded the limit allowed by those waves, the dungeon entrance closed.
That made it impossible to keep receiving supplies from outside or bring in large weapons.
Humanity’s greatest minds were working to overcome that limit, but they had yet to find a solution.
For that reason, Closers attempting to clear a dungeon had to choose between two options.
They could increase their combat personnel and clear the dungeon as quickly as possible.
Or they could bring a support squad and prepare for a long campaign.
The members of a support squad could use warp abilities, but they did not take part directly in clearing the dungeon.
Instead, they used their abilities to support the raid team.
They could use “alchemical transmutation” to turn materials gathered inside the shadow world into medicine and food. With “metallurgy” and “enchantment,” they could repair damaged combat equipment or forge whatever weapons were needed on the spot.
Having a support squad along made an incredible difference to how long a team could keep fighting and sustain itself.
A dungeon expedition with extra combat personnel would end “within a week at the latest,” while an expedition with a support squad would last “over a month at the very least.”
Nikki grinned at the nodding man and pointed an index finger at Hyeokjin.
“Think of that old guy as four support specialists, the four A-rank Closers needed to guard them, and all the support squad’s equipment, compressed into one person.”
“...What?”
“Mr. Vanilla certainly isn’t a direct combat specialist like us. But he’s incredibly versatile. He holds certifications as a ‘Top-Class Alchemist,’ ‘Top-Class Enchanter,’ ‘Top-Class Metallurgist,’ and ‘Top-Class Healer.’ His overall combat strength is equal to four or five average A-rank Closers combined. And that’s not all. I told you most of his body was bionic equipment, right? It’s all miniaturized auxiliary equipment for support work. He had most of his organs, apart from his brain and spinal cord, stripped out and replaced with prosthetics.”
The man turned to look at Hyeokjin.
The anger in his eyes had been replaced by clear surprise.
The equipment they had to bring along with a support squad took up at least as much space as a medium-sized truck.
Yet all that miniaturized auxiliary equipment was packed inside that man’s body...
His enormous oxygen needs began to make sense.
As the S-rank Closers who hadn’t known Hyeokjin stared at him in surprise, Nikki shrugged after a brief pause.
“It might be different if they were combat-focused prosthetics like ours, but his have so many extra functions that they consume a ridiculous amount of oxygen. Anyway, that old guy can handle everything we need for a long stay in a dungeon all by himself. When the dungeon’s entry limit is too tight to spare any slots for a support squad, bringing him along solves the problem. That’s why even the US government classifies Mr. Vanilla as a near-S-rank.”
“...Hmm. A support specialist? I’d wondered why the death rate for clearing S-minus dungeons in America was so low. So he was the reason.”
“Exactly. We get a support squad’s help without much extra investment, which gives us far more strategic and tactical options. It’s much safer, too. He’s not as strong as us, but his combat strength is still far above an ordinary A-rank combat Closer’s. What’s not to like?”
As Nikki finished explaining Hyeokjin’s abilities, the threatening aura flowing from the man quickly faded.
Hyeokjin gave Nikki a slight bow of thanks. Nikki smiled and waved it off as though it were nothing.
Once that brief incident was over, the conference room door opened, and a man in his thirties entered in a neat suit.
The Closer gave off a considerable warp aura. He was Edin Clark, the current government-appointed president of the Closer Association.
“Good day. I see Mr. Road has arrived as well.”
“Sorry. I was clearing my assigned dungeon, so I didn’t see your message.”
“Yes, that couldn’t be helped. In any case, it’s quite something to see heroes from all over the world gathered in one place like this.”
“Edin, enough small talk. The last person we were waiting for is here, so could we get to the point? I’d like to know what sort of core dungeon made the government willing to take a loss to send us here, and what we stand to gain by clearing it.”
An elegant-looking female Closer with platinum-blonde hair asked the question in French-accented English.
The other S-rank Closers nodded in agreement.
Those gathered here had only been told, in general terms, that a “top-class core dungeon” had been discovered. They didn’t know the details.
Under the Closers’ gazes, Edin nodded and moved to the head of the table. He picked up a small remote lying in front of him and switched on the projector.
“Twenty-four days ago, reconnaissance satellites and aircraft identified a core shadow world in the Himalayas, in southern Tibet.”
The projector came on, and photographs appeared on the screen, showing researchers exploring a mountainous area consumed by a shadow world, along with the Closers guarding them.
With every Closer in the conference room watching the screen, Edin slowly continued his explanation, moving through the images.
“Of all the core dungeons identified so far, it has the largest expanse of linked lower-level shadow worlds, and its difficulty is also extraordinary. Based on the warp waves we’ve measured, its difficulty is... SS-plus or higher. Its permitted capacity is approximately nine people.”
“SS-rank? Didn’t dungeon difficulty stop at S-rank?”
“It’s a newly created classification. The readings were far beyond the S-rank range.”
“Hah. We’re only just at the stage where we can take on S-minus dungeons by risking our lives, and now it’s SS-plus... It’ll be our grave. Fine. How many lower-level dungeons will close if we deal with it?”
“According to our calculations, clearing it would eliminate 99.5 percent of the shadow worlds currently encroaching on our planet. Every region except part of China’s Henan Province would be reclaimed.”
Silent shock spread through the conference room at Edin’s answer.
Humanity’s living space had shrunk to roughly 40 percent of its peak. Northeast Asia, including China, Korea, and Japan, as well as the Middle East and Africa, had been completely consumed by shadow worlds. The remaining territories were struggling just to hold back their expansion.
Every effort was being made to train Closers, but more were lost each year than could be trained. Reality was slowly being swallowed up.
At a time like this, eliminating 99.5 percent of the encroaching shadow worlds would be nothing short of salvation.
As everyone struggled to take in the news, Edin continued speaking while operating the projector remote.
“After estimating its difficulty from the warp waves, we ran simulations assuming we sent in the best team theoretically possible. Even then, the chance of clearing it was below 0.5 percent. There was considerable opposition, since the consequences of failure would be devastating, but we had no choice but to take this gamble. As you all know, the situation is bad.”
The projection changed as Edin spoke.
The screen was filled with graphs showing various negative trends. These were data on the expansion of shadow worlds, information that governments around the world kept strictly hidden from the public.
Recognizing what was on the screen, the Closers frowned slightly without a word. Edin continued in a bitter tone.
“The number of shadow worlds is increasing, and their expansion is getting faster. According to the latest research, released a month ago, if the area consumed by shadow worlds keeps increasing at this rate, the entire world will fall within eight years at the latest. And the predicted probability of severe social unrest causing a collapse into anarchy within the next five years is over 95 percent.”
“Yes. The intervals between dungeons regenerating have certainly been getting shorter lately, even if only slightly.”
The others silently nodded at the Closer’s words.
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