Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
48. First practice (5)
The symbol of the Demon King Sillentium was a crow.
As in modern times crows were often treated as symbols of bad omens[1] and misfortune, crows seemed to suit a demon king at a glance.
But there were many people who considered crows as signs of good luck[2].
The protection symbol of the England and Tower of London was a crow, and the folktale that if the crows[3] leave the Tower of London, the Tower of London will crumble and England will fall, continue to this day.
Moreover, folktales related to Three-legged Crow were scattered across East Asia, and there was a theory that a bird engraved on the upper part of the pole representing the symbol of a sacred place or a town’s guardian god was a crow.
‘On the Chilseok the ones who created a bridge through the Milky Way together with magpies to make the Herdsman and Weaver met were crows.’
In addition, crows symbolized chatty and noisy beings.
They didn’t match well with Sillentium, whose modifiers were silent and a bystander.
It was such if we considered one of the constellations’ origin, Corvus constellation.
‘Because there is an anecdote that Apollo’s pet bird, which had silver feathers, teased its tongue wrongly and for that it was burned black and hung in the sky.’
Even so, the Demon King of Silence and Bystanders used a seal formed from crow’s beak and feathers.
The crow seal which appeared in this Maze type Otherworld was the same to the one used by Sillentium.
Shaaa….!
When I approached, wild superpower wave gushed out of the Sillentium’s seal, as its form changed.
The light of the Sillentium’s seal seemed black at a glance, but there was a green sheen mixed in like in crow feathers.
After the raging superpower wave gradually settled, I saw a translucent silhouette wearing a crow mask of the same design I used.
Seeing the back reflection, it seemed he was using a skill similar to Nabiryeong, when I met her in the Seokchon Lake Underwater Otherworld in the past.
‘That crow mask and color of superpower wave, in addition to the Sillentium’s seal… It’s certain, it’s Sillentium.’
Sillentium observed me quietly from the other side of the mask.
I didn’t know his intentions, but I spoke up first.
“Hello.”
— …
At my greeting, Sillentium’s mouth’s corner pulled up into a smile.
And then he started to open and close his mouth.
It seemed he was thinking of communicating, but not about letting his voice be heard.
There was no trace of Enemies approaching, and the surrounding instantly fell into silence.
‘It came out as a text in the game, but I should just read his lips here, right?’
The game wreck PMH had no voice support.
As everyone’s lines were processed into text, I had no idea that Sillentium talked this way, even though he appeared in the game.
Interpreting Sillentium’s words, it was as such:
— You’re unfazed, eh? Did you predict it?
I predicted that he would appear someday, but I had completely no idea that he would appear right now.
I was very surprised, but was it perhaps because I was in the otherworld and perceived the current situation as ‘in the middle of a fight’?
It seemed that my expression wasn’t showing very well.
— If you used my crow mask and even engraved my seal inside that mask, you would predict that I’d appear someday.
— After I recognized your existence, I observed you through the crow mask.
— Don’t you feel reluctant to be observed by a Demon King?
Sillentium would watch me when I wore a crow mask and took action.
It would be a lie if I said ‘it doesn’t matter’, but in any case, there was a damn geezer who was tracking my device coordinates whether I was wearing a mask or not, so I wasn’t particularly bothered. [4]
Instead, I looked forward to it.
However, now wasn’t a good time.
‘… Are class children okay?’
If I waste time here, children might be injured.
Among the children I watched through the ‘Eyes embracing Heaven and Earth’, the two in the biggest danger were Sawol Seeum and Kwon Lena, but luckily they didn’t encounter any Enemies yet.
‘I can’t show weaknesses, right? I have to hide it, even if I’m a bit late.’
I couldn’t act foolishly and reveal my weakness just before making a deal.
“It’s fine. In exchange, I want to make a suggestion.”
— Okay. Speak.
In the game, Sillentium moved cautiously and slowly, but he had more straightforward personality than expected.
Perhaps the one wearing the crow mask right now was not Sillentium, but a proxy?
When I didn’t reply straight away, Sillentium added a few words.
— The time and range of interference into an otherworld, by borrowing the power of the familiar I made to wait, is limited.
— And it’s annoying if I get involved with Jin people. I don’t want the tiger and dragon around you know about my existence. Speak quickly.
Yong Jegeon already noticed Sillentium’s existence.
Considering Yong Jegeon’s personality, he may soon cause annoyances for Sillentium.
Anyway, such things suited Sillentium, who was a practical thinker.
I recalled the scenario, which keep bearing on my mind, as I spoke.
“I need a guide to lead me through the Demon World. I want to receive help of Demon King-nim’s familiar.”
After Clash of Different Worlds, many things changed and merged.
The main stages of Jin People became the present world, but some weren’t like this.
Cheon tribe[5] and Demons.
They also descended to the present world, but the majority of them stayed in the Celestial and Demon Worlds.
The Cheon tribe and Demons existed in the Celestial World and Demon World, and their worlds weren’t completely merged with present world.
Only a ‘road’ connecting them was opened.
‘There is a chance I’ll go instead of Ju Su-hyeok and An Dain. Even if the two will go, we will have to go together.’
Ju Su-hyeok and An Dain ended up heading to the Demon World without beforehand preparations to solve a certain scenario.
The two main characters met with a chance encounter worthy of main characters and obtained the Demon’s goodwill and were safe, but not everyone in the two’s party were lucky.
— Demon World’s guide, you say. Do you know what kind of place is the Demon World?
“I don’t know much. So the help of a guide is necessary.”
I only knew what was shown in the game, I didn’t know as much as I wanted.
As the Celestial World and Demon World were unknown subjects even for Jin people, beside Cheon tribe and Demons, so I couldn’t borrow Ho tribe’s help.
If I’m going to try to reduce sacrifices and effort, I have to receive help of someone among the Demons, but among the Demons, which appeared in the game, the only one worthy ‘trading’ with was Sillentium.
— What are you going to give as price for finding a guide?
I secured it beforehand.
I took out an item card from the item window.
Seeing the particular border design and color of UR rank item card, Sillentium slightly opened his mouth and exclaimed.
— Weight of Life and Fortune!
What I took out was the ‘Weight of Life and Fortune’ I was handed by Ungnyeo of Grief before.
It was an item, which erased human possibilities for a price of user’s fortune and life.
Ungnyeo of Grief passed over three Weights of Life and Fortune.
One was used up to save Bak Seung-hyeon on the April’s Fool Day and expel the illegally admitted from Player’s community.
Now was the time to use one of the two remaining items.
— In exchange for giving a permission to replicate the original of my pure silver coin, I asked Ungnyeo of Grief for a recipe for this item.
— The item I made didn’t have a higher being to stand on the scales, so it couldn’t be used. I wanted to have an original, but Ungnyeo didn’t give it.
Sillentium also once told this story in the game.
When Ju Su-hyeok broke the Fantasy Auction and saved Sawol Seeum in 3rd year, he looked into the Jin behind it with a pure silver coin as a clue and heard that secret story.
— Good. I accept the deal. But, there is a condition.
“Please speak.”
I still had one more Weight of Life and Fortune in the item window.
If needed, I thought of adding one more.
There was a usage for the third I originally thought of, but even though it would be a bit difficult, I could solve it in a different way.
There was no substitute for the Demon World’s guide.
— As there is part of your action principles and motivations I don’t understand, I want to confirm something.
Action principles? Motivations?
How are you going to confirm them?
— This maze right now, I want you to clear it as the highest conquest’s contributor.
At those words I understood Sillentium’s intentions.
As he was covered by a mask, only Sillentium’s mouth was visible.
The mouth’s corners between the mask raised very high.
— This road leads to the next floor where the boss Enemy awaits, and this road leads to the place where the weakest people in this maze are.
— What are you going to do?
* * *
After entering the otherworld.
Kwon Lena and Sawol Seeum were left alone.
They were surprised, because the number of people suddenly decreased, but the two handled it calmly.
“… Didn’t they say that division phenomena doesn’t occur on the R rank difficulty? This maze looks different from the one we saw during the briefing.”
“I guess the conquest difficulty changed! I’ll try to contact other kids first.” [6]
But the device didn’t connect with outside or the other Players inside of the otherworld.
They learned about the cases when communication fails through textbooks, but as they personally faced such a situation on their first practice, they were flustered.
The two roughly learned about each other’s combat power through the practices during the 1st semester.
In the class, no, in the whole Eungwang School, the two belonged to the lowest ranks if considering only the attack power.
Even so, the two were more worried about other class children.
“What to do? There may be kids, who are left alone.”
“Let’s go quickly join them!” [7]
The two stood back to back, each guarding the front and the back, as they advanced forward.
Because the Maze type Otherworld’s ceiling was usually low and was enclosed, the Flight skill couldn’t be used, and so they couldn’t help but move forward using the Detection category and Insight category skills, and their memory abilities.
“I’m glad Seeum is here. If I was alone, I would still be around the entrance.”
“Me too…! Because I can’t use the Flight skill and don’t have Detection category skill like Lena, I would lose my way.”
Usually when doing a party play through the otherworld simulator with class children, Kwon Lena would take the rear.
It was because Kwon Lena could do distant attacks well enough with her combat skill ‘Whip Martial Art’, while adjusting the length of the whip with a superpower wave.
However, today she gripped the whip more tightly than usual and stood in front of Sawol Seeum.
It was to take the role of a scout with one of the Detection category skills, ‘Enemy Detection’ skill, and protect Sawol Seeum, as approachable position was disadvantageous for the ‘Wind Art’.
Perhaps because it was the first time she stood at the front, her hand holding a whip trembled slightly.
“Hey… Why did Lena choose a whip?”
Sawol Seeum spoke up to relieve Kwon Lena’s nervousness.
“Whip seems difficult to use. And there is a small number of People using it…”
Sawol Seeum was about to speak more, but he pressed his lips.
He felt as if instead of saying something to change the atmosphere, he was demoralizing.
The Whip Martial Art needed much more muscle strength than it appeared, and the control was complex, moreover, the damage the opponent sustained was small compared to the strength consumed.
If whips weren’t included among the weapons found after otherworld conquest, there wouldn’t be even one Player using Whip Martial Arts.
Before Sawol Seeum changed the conversation’s topic, Kwon Lena replied with a soft tone.
“… Combat skill is necessary when trying to enter Eunwang School, remember? But I had no talent at all for bare hand combat like Hyodon or Han Yi, and wasn’t born with a Nature category combat skill like Seeum. So I had to use a supernatural weapon.”
“Aah, You learned it to pass Eungwang School’s entrance exam, eh? Was there perhaps a Person using a Whip Art among Your middle school teachers-nim?”
“Hahaha, that’s not it. Um… it’s just, just that…”
Her tone was casual, but it seemed somehow difficult to say.
Sawol Seeum thought he made a slip of a tongue and was about to cut her off, apologizing, but Kwon Lena continued to speak before that.
“My parents-nim said it’s difficult to obtain a supernatural weapon, so… I gave up, but unnie worked part-time and gifted it to me with gathered money.”
Kwon Lena briefly explained that process.
Kwon Lena’s unnie wasn’t a Player, but an ordinary person.
Because Whip Martial Art wasn’t popular, whips belonged to comparatively easy to obtain and were a cheap category among the supernatural weapons.
Even so, to obtain a high price superpower weapon wasn’t an easy task for an ordinary person, but it appeared that Kwon Lena’s unnie obtained a whip for Kwon Lena.
“I just self-studied Whip Martial Art, but I ended up being able to use it well enough to hit Enemies. After this I just kept using a whip.”
Kwon Lena smiled with a face, which completely lost its nervousness.
She vividly recalled the scene of her unnie, who was awkward and didn’t particularly exchange words, handing her a gift with a blunt face.
When Kwon Lena was about to talk about her unnie a bit more.
Paat!
Superpower wave exploded a few times in succession around Kwon Lena and then disappeared.
It was an effect of Enemy Detection skill activating one after another.
Sawol Seeum also sensed the superpower wave and his expression turned nervous.
“Enemies. Their number… four.”
Kwon Lena tightly grasped her whip as if praying.
*~*~*
[1] bad omens — ‘흉조 (hyung-jo)’ it could also specifically mean a bird that brings bad events.
[2] signs of good luck — ‘길조 (gil-jo)’ like above, it could specifically mean a bird that brings good events.
[3] crows — the word ‘까마귀 (kkamagwi)’ doesn’t differentiate between crows and ravens, it basically just means a black bird. To keep it consistent I left it as crows, but the correct bird here would be raven. (As a half-baked biologist I’m losing my mind here, because both crows and ravens are common names that are often used interchangeably, but I know people tend to think about specific species of Corvus genus when saying those names so…)
[4] It would be a lie if I said ‘it doesn’t matter’, but in any case, there was a damn geezer who was tracking my device coordinates whether I was wearing a mask or not, so I wasn’t particularly bothered. — …………. *exchanges glances with other time travelers* ……. Sigh……. In the end, only a demon king has any kind of conscience.
[5] Cheon tribe — ‘Cheon’ for sky, probably referring to angels, but I’m still not certain if only to them.
[6] “I guess the conquest difficulty changed! I’ll try to contact other kids first.” — Sawol Seeum’s sentence.
[7] “Let’s go quickly join them!” — Sawol Seeum’s sentence.
Translator’s note: Jo Uisin, you know, this crow guy matches your suspiciousness, so maybe you’re right about him being some kind of ‘proxy’.
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