WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
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◈ The World Is Not a Game ◈
Chapter 5
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The Closers gathered here stood on the front line against the encroachment of the shadow worlds. No one understood the gravity of the situation better than they did.
A cold silence settled over the conference room after one Closer finished speaking. Edin slowly looked around the table before speaking.
“For this reason, after reaching an agreement with the governments of each nation, we've decided to make one final gamble with humanity's fate at stake. We've gathered you here because you're qualified to undertake this desperate attempt. We won't force you to participate. Humanity already owes you a debt it can never repay for everything you've done. If you wish to join this desperate gamble, please raise your hand.”
The moment the association president finished speaking, all eighteen people seated at the table raised their hands as if it were only natural.
With extinction drawing near, humanity had no choice but to stake its future on this attempt, sink or swim.
And those gathered here weren't weak enough to leave their fate in someone else's hands and turn away from the approaching disaster.
When every Closer in the room raised a hand, Edin slowly nodded as though this was exactly what they had expected.
“Since you've all agreed, we'll spend the next three years refining your teamwork. We've already used your combat data to calculate the theoretical synergies between different combinations of members, but practical experience in the field matters far more than hypothetical calculations. Our first targets will be S-rank dungeons selected from each country. We'll carry out dozens of raids with different team compositions. And... Mr. Road.”
At the association president's call, Hyeokjin turned to look at Edin. The president met Hyeokjin's gaze and continued in a calm voice.
“Everyone participating in this teamwork training is S rank. Losing even one of you would be a devastating blow. So these raids ‘must’ succeed. As you know, your participation makes a considerable difference to an expedition's chances of success...”
“Understood. I'll take part in every scheduled raid.”
Hyeokjin nodded, answering before the president could finish. After hearing that reply, Edin addressed the S-rank Closers with a solemn expression.
“Good. Then I'll explain the detailed schedule you'll be following.”
Episode 0. The Weight We Must Bear
* * *
Rifts in space that ordinary humans couldn't perceive, and mysterious worlds stretching out beyond them.
Once the existence of these unknown spaces, which defied all established knowledge, became widely known, humanity poured vast amounts of money and enormous numbers of researchers into finding out just what had appeared before them.
Thanks to humanity's hungry pursuit of answers, research into warp energy had advanced a great deal. In contrast, very little had been discovered about the spaces within the rifts themselves.
At most, they had learned that the worlds inside the rifts weren't “real.”
These artificial worlds were formed around cores called warp stones, materialized sources of ultradense warp energy. They were shadowlike places that reflected worlds which truly existed somewhere else.
After researchers discovered this fact, the spaces within the rifts, previously known by countless names such as the “reverse world,” “nightmare,” and “paradise,” were all given the official designation “shadow world.”
‘To think this place is nothing more than a projected shadow... Then what could the original be like?’
They had entered an S+-rank dungeon for their final teamwork training before attempting the SS+-rank dungeon.
After a three-month campaign, they had finally cleared it. While the other team members busily prepared to return to reality, Hyeokjin quietly slipped away. Now, seated atop a massive obelisk a little over five kilometers tall at the center of the world, Hyeokjin surveyed the landscape below.
It was a world that looked as though a madman's diseased imagination had become reality.
The sky wasn't blue, but a glistening scarlet, like blood squeezed from a heart. In one corner of that ominous sky, a pulsing black sun poured dark, muddy streams toward the ground as though shedding tears.
Beneath that horribly distorted sky stood a city the color of bleached bones.
A city built by intelligent beings other than humans, so vast that even Hyeokjin's implant-enhanced vision couldn't make out its far edge.
“...Hey, Vanilla. Everyone else is busy getting ready to go back. What are you doing up here, taking it easy all by yourself?”
A voice suddenly came from above. Pulled from those thoughts, Hyeokjin looked up.
An elegantly shaped broom floated in the air. Sitting on it was a beautiful, voluptuous woman dressed as a Halloween witch.
It was Nikki, who, along with Hyeokjin, had been chosen for the final team that would enter the SS+-rank dungeon.
Meeting Nikki's gaze, Hyeokjin rose easily to stand.
“I wanted to take in the scenery before we left. I'll head down now.”
“Hmm, really? I only asked because I thought you might be wondering, ‘What the hell is this shitty world? And what could the “original world” possibly be like?’”
Nikki playfully imitated Hyeokjin's distinctly flat delivery.
Hyeokjin let out an involuntary chuckle. Laughing cheerfully herself, Nikki guided her broom closer and nudged Hyeokjin in the side with her elbow.
“Hey, judging by that laugh, I hit the nail on the head, didn't I?”
“Yes, you did. Have you developed a talent for reading minds?”
“Nope. Just figured that was what you'd be thinking.”
After answering with a light shrug, she got off her broom and stood beside Hyeokjin, looking down.
The cityscape was a terrible jumble of bizarre buildings crowded together. Rather than a city, it resembled a mass of living, writhing insects.
She had seen more than enough of this view over the past three months, yet it still felt unfamiliar and disturbing. Nikki frowned slightly and slowly began to speak.
“A place so incomprehensible that nothing we know about reality can explain it or make sense of it. And sometimes, you find creepy remnants of alien civilizations inside. When you see that with your own eyes, you're bound to wonder at least once, whether you want to or not, ‘Who used to live here? And what was this place even created for?’ Well, I already know thinking about it won't give me any answers, but I keep doing it anyway.”
“I know exactly what you mean. They're irritating thoughts. The kind you don't want to have, but once they start, they keep coming back.”
Hyeokjin nodded in agreement, then looked up at the grotesque black sun hanging in the sky.
This utterly unreal place could never have formed naturally. The questions kept coming. Just who had created it? And for what purpose?
Hyeokjin already knew that thinking about it wouldn't produce an answer, yet couldn't shake the thoughts.
For a while, Nikki and Hyeokjin stood side by side without speaking, looking down over the distorted world...
Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep!
“Hmm?”
A call alert sounded from the watch on Nikki's wrist.
The sound broke Hyeokjin's train of thought. As Hyeokjin turned toward her, Nikki checked her watch and lightly smacked her lips. Then she climbed onto the broom floating beside her and pointed her thumb toward its rear.
“That's enough sightseeing. Let's head down. Get on behind me.”
“Couldn't we just use your ‘spatial leap ability’?”
“It may be my own ability, but honestly, even I feel sick when I travel that way. Doesn't it feel like your insides are getting scrambled? We're not in that much of a hurry anyway. We might as well take the broom.”
“True. It really does feel like that.”
Recalling the side effects of a spatial leap, Hyeokjin nodded in agreement.
It literally felt as though your insides were being mixed together. It didn't do much harm, but it certainly wasn't pleasant.
As Nikki gestured toward the back of the broom, Hyeokjin loosened up a little and spoke.
“No need. I'll just head down on my own, then...”
“Shut up and get on, you idiot. Riding my broom will be much faster than going down yourself.”
“No, I was going to jump from here anyway...”
“Get on. Oh? You're not getting on?”
For some reason, Nikki was frowning as she urged Hyeokjin on. Hyeokjin surrendered and awkwardly climbed onto the back of the broom.
As a Closer who fought monsters for a living, Hyeokjin had an excellent sense of balance. Even so, staying balanced astride a wobbling stick barely three centimeters wide was quite a challenge.
Seeing Hyeokjin gripping the streamlined broom handle hard enough to crush it out of fear of falling, Nikki sighed. She took Hyeokjin by both wrists and guided the hands to her waist.
“Hold on tight to my waist. Keep your body close, too. We're going down at full speed.”
“...It really would be more comfortable to go down on my own.”
Ignoring Hyeokjin's grumbling, Nikki sent the magical broom racing toward the ground with a sharp movement.
* * *
When Hyeokjin returned to reality after three months, having cleared an S+-rank dungeon, what awaited wasn't rest to soothe an exhausted mind and body, but a major political event.
Until the discovery of the SS+-rank dungeon, the S+rank core dungeon had been considered the most difficult of all. Now came news that it had been cleared. With the unnatural disaster of shadow worlds encroaching on reality making society increasingly uneasy, the world's governments weren't foolish enough to let such welcome news go unused.
They publicized it on a massive scale. People who had been trembling in fear went wild over the first good news they'd heard in a long time.
“Mr. Road, I think it's about time you came out.”
At the voice of an aide who had opened the dressing room door and stepped inside, Hyeokjin opened tired eyes and rose from the chair.
It had only been a day since the return. The mechanics had serviced Hyeokjin's body immediately, allowing it to recover somewhat, but a mind pushed to its limits for three months was still crying out in extreme exhaustion.
Hyeokjin wanted to drop everything and rest, even right this moment...
But there was no choice but to move.
To play the clown and meet the expectations of the people waiting outside.
After standing, Hyeokjin checked the reflection in the full-length mirror on the wall with weary eyes.
‘...I never thought the day would come when I'd be dressed like this.’
Staring at that unfamiliar reflection, Hyeokjin gave a faint, bitter smile.
The sinister mask covering Hyeokjin's face also served as a gas mask. Its design seemed to be based on the masks worn by medieval plague doctors, with a filter canister curving to a sharp point like an eagle's beak and eye lenses gleaming with an ominous red aura. The sleek black hooded combat outfit was decorated around the shoulders and collar with black feathers that gave off a faint purple sheen.
‘But no matter how I look at it, I just don't understand what people like about this outfit.’
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