The Undying Drama Chapter 18: Bedside Talk
At night,
The five tent mates laid in their sleeping bags, tightly packed like a bunch of sardines. It was late at night, but no one seemed to be even a tiny bit sleepy.
One"day High: Sigh...my money"s spent. Not even 1 wish is left.
Lee Sole"shot: As expected of Boss High, the man from the country of math geniuses.
Di Qi Ju:...is that really something you should praise him for?
Lee Sole"shot: Of course. If it was me, I wouldn"t have been able to control my lower half and would have ended up in debt.
Lee Sole"shot: After being berated, humiliated, beaten until my body is covered in wounds and forced to sign a contract of forced labor.
Di Qi Ju: Exactly what have you gone through in life…
Halfmoon Leak"age: We just set off and you are already wasting your energy on women, isn"t that just foolish?
One"day High: No way, women are the spice of a man"s life.
One"day High: By the way, Leak"age-chan.
Halfmoon Leak"age: Leak"age….chan?
One"day High: Judging from the way you wielded that hand knife tonight, you should be a pretty proficient fighter, right?
Halfmoon Leak"age:......
Halfmoon Leak"age: And what"s so strange about that? Within these laborers, there should be a large number of proficient fighters as well.
Lee Sole"shot: Naturally. After all, everyone is here because they want to join the army, rise in the ranks and pave the way for a successful life.
Di Qi Ju: Hmm, what"s up with that?
One"day High: Didn"t you know Little Ju? If a foreigner wishes to join the country of Faith"s army and expedition, they must serve a mandatory period of one year as a laborer.
One"day High: Even if you are a hero with over ten thousand wish points, you still won"t be exempted from this rule.
Di Qi Ju: So that"s why there are so many unique characters here.
Lee Sole"shot: Little Ju sure is a country b.u.mpkin.
One"day High: By the way, since we are now part of a team together, do you mind if I inquire about everyone"s abilities?
The tent immediately fell silent.
Halfmoon Leak"age: Talking about such a private matter is pretty unsettling.
Lee Sole"shot: That"s right. It"s even more unsettling than being stripped naked and bound in the streets while learning to crawl like a dog.
Di Qi Ju: I keep asking, exactly what kind of life did you lead Lee Sole"shot…
One"day High: If you guys aren"t comfortable with it, I"ll be the first to go.
One"day High: I! Am a man of the country of Math and as such have inherited their talent for calculation!
One"day High: As such, I"ve invested 40 points in an "ability to do calculations and to be calculative"!
Halfmoon Leak"age:......
Lee Sole"shot: As expected...of Boss High. So daring.
Lee Sole"shot: With such a broad wish ability, it must be really hard to control without a natural talent in that field. Furthermore, the benefits will be miniscule.
One"day High: But! I"m a genius! I even have a ton of wish points left unused!
Di Qi Ju: If only you weren"t so boastful about.
Lee Sole"shot: As for me, an "ability to prevent myself from telling others when I"ve been bullied" 10 points; an "ability to not resist or get angry" 18 points…
Lee Sole"shot:...an "ability to resist attacks and recover from internal or external wounds" 20 points; an "ability to craft arrows" 10 points; an "ability to use to the bow" 32 points.
Lee Sole"shot: I have no more wish points left that were granted by G.o.d. Not even 1.
Di Qi Ju:......
Halfmoon Leak"age:......
One"day High: Umm...Mr. Shot.
Lee Sole"shot: Lee Sole"shot is fine.
One"day High: Lee Sole"shot...why did you just reveal everything to us?
Lee Sole"shot: That"s because, if it"s something that has to be said, it"s natural for me to reveal everything.
Lee Sole"shot: Since it"s you guys, it"s fine.
Halfmoon Leak"age: There"s no need to take your ident.i.ty so lightly.
Di Qi Ju: And what the heck is an "ability to prevent myself from telling others when I"ve been bullied" and an "ability to not resist or get angry"!?
Lee Sole"shot: Those were wishes I was forced to make.
Lee Sole"shot: It can"t be helped, after all no matter which circle I"m a part of, I"m always the one getting bullied.
Di Qi Ju: But weren"t you pretty quick to point that arrow at Alvin the Muscle Brain"s head?
Lee Sole"shot: That"s because he"s not a part of my social circle.
Lee Sole"shot: Why should I submit to people outside of my circle?
Di Qi Ju:...that"s a pretty intriguing point of view.
Di Qi Ju: In the words...of a certain subspecies of humans, you are definitely a…"pure uke". [1] (The receiving end of a male h.o.m.os.e.xual relationship. PS. he"s talking about fujoshi.)
Lee Sole"shot: Exactly what is that species?
Di Qi Ju: Er...just take it as I didn"t say anything.
One"day High: Alright, now it"s Leak"age-chan"s turn.
Halfmoon Leak"age: Again with the "Leak"age-chan"...
Lee Sole"shot: So what wishes have you made Leak"age-chan?
Halfmoon Leak"age: ……
Halfmoon Leak"age: None.
One"day High: Hmm? After 20 years, you haven"t made a single wish? You are pretty patient.
Halfmoon Leak"age: That"s not it.
Halfmoon Leak"age: I...was born without wish points.
Halfmoon Leak"age: I wasn"t favored by G.o.d so my natural wish points was 0.
Di Qi Ju:......
Lee Sole"shot:......
One"day High: Then...you should have been born with some gift that was stronger than a person who hadn"t invested points into it. G.o.d wouldn"t discriminate against a person to such an extent.
Halfmoon Leak"age: I...was born with a naturally superior night vision.
Halfmoon Leak"age: Even when the sun is totally dark in the middle of the night, I can still see clearly as day.
Halfmoon Leak"age: Other than that, I have no other specialities.
One"day High:......
One"day High: Ahh----Little Ju, what about you?
Di Qi Ju: Oh, me…
Di Qi Ju: I wished for an ability similar to Lee Sole"shot"s ability to resist attacks. After all, the place I lived in was pretty remote so any external injuries might lead to death.
Lee Sole"shot: Oh! It"s a pretty nifty ability isn"t it? Before I made that wish, I would faint after only a little over 10 hits. However, after making that wish, it took nearly a thousand hits to knock me unconscious!
Di Qi Ju: How is that nifty…
One"day High: Is there anything else?
Di Qi Ju: And...because of the remoteness of my village, I had difficulty speaking. For example, my accent was really strong causing others to be unable to understand what I say. As such, I decided to spend 10 points on a communication ability.
One"day High:......
One"day High: Spending 10 points on a communication ability is just too extravagant! Do you think you are the Divine Hall"s inquisitor or something??
Di Qi Ju: I had no choice...I didn"t even have the chance to learn to write words.
Revealing that I"m illiterate shouldn"t be a problem right now, right?
After all, even after Lee Sole"shot"s colorful tales, no one pried any further. This means that avoiding another"s questions is a pretty normal thing.
Besides when I decided to reveal this, my wish ability didn"t warn me about any fatal threats.
Lee Sole"shot: I"m literate.
Di Qi Ju: Ah, can you teach me a few words?
Lee Sole"shot: Sure, what do you wish to learn?
Di Qi Ju: I would like to know how to write my name and how to write numbers.
Lee Sole"shot: Sure, after breakfast tomorrow I"ll teach you. Please feel free to abuse me as you wish.
Di Qi Ju: That last part was unnecessary…
Since no one reacted strangely to my little fib, I guess I"ve pa.s.sed this test.
Like this, my literacy standard will have caught up to the level of an ordinary illiterate guy...such a miserable starting point.
One"day High: Last we have…
One"day High: Mo Chuan?
Mo Chuan:...
Mo Chuan:......
Halfmoon Leak"age: He"s already asleep.
One"day High: Huh...such a lone wolf. He didn"t even join our bedside talk.
Lee Sole"shot: I think he"s only willing to talk to Little Ju.
One"day High: Well, that won"t do! Tomorrow, we must find a way to force him into our social group.
Lee Sole"shot: That"s right. Even if you are the one getting ravaged, not entering a social circle while in the military isn"t good.
Di Qi Ju: Don"t just casually insert your m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic lifestyle into our conversation…
Mo Chuan:...
Mo Chuan: I think you guys are misunderstanding something here---
Lee Sole"shot: ...AH!!
One"day High: ……!
Halfmoon Leak"age: ……
Mo Chuan"s sudden interjection gave everyone a jump scare.
Mo Chuan:---I never intended to separate myself from the group, it"s just that I was used to being isolated by others.
One"day High: That…
One"day High: You should at least join in our conversation.
Mo Chuan: You wish to spy on my wish abilities?
One"day High: Uh...no...I wouldn"t dare….
Mo Chuan:...
Mo Chuan: Sigh…
Halfmoon Leak"age: Hey, that isn"t the right att.i.tude to take, One"day High.
Halfmoon Leak"age: Getting so easily frightened by another"s words is a form of isolating others as well.
One"day High: Oh.
Lee Sole"shot: Actually if you look carefully, other than that tail growing out of Mo Chuan, he really isn"t that different from Alvin.
Di Qi Ju: Please don"t make such an unpleasant comparison.
Mo Chuan: There"s a question I wish to ask first.
Di Qi Ju: Go ahead.
Mo Chuan: Lee Sole"shot...why is it that no matter where you go, people will always bully you?
One"day High:……
Halfmoon Leak"age:……
Ah, an arrow straight to his weak point. The kind of words that would immediately freeze the atmosphere.
Lee Sole"shot: Uh, this huh.
Lee Sole"shot: It"s because my words usually p.i.s.s people off so they usually bully me.
Lee Sole"shot: Acid tongue...it was one of the gifts bestowed onto me by G.o.d.
Di Qi Ju:...I seemed to have understood something from that.
One"day High: Mhm...a tongue that"s so acidic, it won"t even show itself any mercy.
Lee Sole"shot: I wanted to ask as well, Mo Chuan why are you able to be friends with Little Ju?
Mo Chuan:...
Mo Chuan: After a whole year in human society, he was the first one to talk to me in such an unguarded and unreserved manner.
One"day High: Oh hoh, so daring.
Halfmoon Leak"age: Bold…
Lee Sole"shot: So it"s a coincidental meeting between a suicidal kid and a gullible little seasonal wolf.
One"day High: Lee Sole"shot...do you want to be bullied in this social circle as well?
Lee Sole"shot: Er...no... it"s just my brain seems to have commandeered my mouth without my knowledge…
Mo Chuan: Oh that"s right. I have something for you One"day High. I received it while you guys were showering.
The Mo Chuan who was sleeping on the left most side of the tent pa.s.sed a piece of paper over to the right most side where One"day High was sleeping.
While this paper did pa.s.s through my hands, I was still illiterate so I still had to wait for One"day High to spill the beans.
One"day High:……
One"day High: Great news, my dear comrades.
Lee Sole"shot: What is it?
Halfmoon Leak"age: If it"s "great news", it can only mean one thing.
Halfmoon Leak"age: Even though it"s inevitable, I didn"t expect it to arrive so soon.
Di Qi Ju:...??
One"day High: Tomorrow, we no longer have to perform hard labor like moving stuff around.
One"day High: We have to join the soldiers in "garrison" duty!
Footnotes:
Credits:
Special thanks to 7STARDARK BLADE! The first ever patron of Catato Patch Translations.