WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Professor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 12: Witch of the Cemetery (1)

【 Black Dragon Division, First-Year, Rebecca: "There’s no need. These days, we can even make corpses talk." 】

【 Maid, Hart: "…!" 】

【 Black Dragon Division, First-Year, Rebecca: "But I am curious. What kind of curses were placed on my veil?" 】

I was hidden behind a tree, observing the situation from a distance, just close enough for the range of the 【textbox】 to barely reach.

Moments later, I witnessed the outcome of Rebecca’s order.

I didn’t plan to judge anyone. Nevertheless, this confirmed one thing: I had made the right decision not to join the Black Dragon Division.

┃ Bond Increased: Rebecca [2] (▲2)

┃ Reward: Star Shards ×2

The reward was good.

< Star Shards in Possession: 12 >

I was steadily accumulating Star Shards.

Just as I was about to head home, a thought crossed my mind:

Do they cremate the corpses after the funeral?

It was a question worth considering. 

Cursed corpses had a tendency to become a problem if left unattended. 

Rebecca had attended funerals at the Academy every week—without fail—for an entire semester.

Given that around 20 people died each week in Zone 0… that meant roughly 600 bodies had already been lowered into coffins.

But if those corpses, all infused with high-level curses strong enough to deceive even clerics, weren’t being cremated…

We could be sitting on a massive problem. 

So, I made my way back to the cathedral.

There they are.

Fortunately, I arrived just in time to see the coffins being loaded onto a carriage.

Blending in with the weeping crowd, I silently followed the funeral procession.

Before long, night began to fall.

After walking for a while, the carriage eventually split from the crowd and veered toward a cemetery.

As I suspected, the bodies were buried rather than cremated.

However, there was something strange. The burial site wasn’t the main cemetery of the region.

According to the sign I passed, the actual cemetery was still two kilometers farther ahead.

For context, Hiaka Academy was located in a satellite city near the kingdom’s capital. Its population was around 300,000.

Zone 0—where the Assassin Department was based—housed roughly 4,000 cadets. But if you included the total number of residents, the figure rose to over 40,000.

Zone 0 wasn’t just an academy district. It was more like a small city.

But back to the matter at hand. 

Why were they burying bodies in some abandoned patch of land?

After the bereaved families left, I approached one of the workers.

"Well… to be honest, we used the public cemetery up until recently,” they said. “But at the start of this year, strange things started happening over there."

"Strange things, you say?"

"Um… I'm not sure about the details, but apparently, some kind of monster showed up."

A monster? On school grounds?

"And the academy administration just left it alone?" I pressed.

"Uh, I don’t know that much…" they said, shrinking back a little, perhaps intimidated by my assassin-like presence.

Just then, a senior worker approached us.

"What’s going on?" he asked.

The younger worker explained my question, and the senior nodded in understanding.

"Ah, you're talking about Mt. Stargaze’s Cemetery? Yeah, the space over there became strange."

"The space?” I repeated. “But he mentioned some kind of monster."

"Well, the strange monster is living inside the strange space," he clarified. "The department dean and a few chief professors checked it out… and decided to let it be. They sealed off the area and determined that people should be buried in a new cemetery instead."

Interesting.

The senior worker then leaned in, lowering his voice. 

"But I heard that the monster is actually a witch."

"A witch?"

"That's right! But weirdly enough, the witch supposedly never leaves the area and hasn’t killed anyone. So they figured there was no need to provoke her and just let her be.”

He seemed almost excited to be sharing something so mysterious and eerie. 

From what I learned later, nobody actually knew anything specific about the witch. Some claimed it was more of a monster than a witch.

There were stories about cadets who had gone there as a joke, and of chief professors who tried to subjugate her, some of whom returned with injuries.

I tried to recall if any witch-like entities in the game could be summoned in graveyard areas.

Three potential monsters came to mind, but they were all dungeon-exclusive spawns.

However, the Academy had the 「Divine Protection of the Peaceful Star☮」, a ward that prevented dungeons from forming.

"A witch at the cemetery, huh…" I murmured, my curiosity grew stronger, especially since the discovery of this witch had reportedly happened at the start of the year.

After all, that was around the time Rebecca had enrolled in the Assassin Department.

In the end, I decided to check it out myself.

I called Adele, explained the situation, and we drove toward Mt. Stargaze.

During the drive, Adele glanced at me, visibly puzzled.

"That area is restricted, Professor."

"If anyone asks about it, just say we were conducting research," I replied calmly.

"Hmm… Are you planning to assassinate the witch if she ends up being hostile?"

Who knows.

I had no answer to that question. That was precisely why I was going: to uncover the truth.

I was a veteran of this game, and there was almost nothing I didn’t know.

Well, aside from a few things—new characters like Kaiser and Elize, who were introduced with the DLC. However, when it came to key events, such as the formation of the assassination team or the story surrounding Elize’s family, the House of Count Csikos, I knew those like the back of my hand.

Now that my game knowledge had become reality through my <Synchronization> with Dante, I understood nearly everything about this world.

And yet, here I was, facing an event at Mt. Stargaze that I knew nothing about. 

"Hmm~ Ah, we’re almost there,” Adele said, humming lightly as we approached the mountain. 

Just then, I noticed red dots appearing on my minimap.

And there were a lot of them.

They were gradually approaching the road ahead of us. 

Unlikely to be hostile humans targeting me. In other words, those red dots could mean only one thing—monsters.

"Adele, stop the car."

"Why?"

"For some reason, there are monsters nearby. I’ll proceed alone. You speed up, shake them off, and get to safety."

"Ah, understood."

I stepped out and started climbing the mountain path.

『World Forgery: Form Forgery [Car]』

Using Illusion Arts, I made the car move again.

The red dots, which had hesitated for a moment, resumed their movement.

I may not know Stealth Arts…

But I dumped a full 1,000 points into Illusion Arts for a reason: to be able to handle any situation.

『World Forgery: Form Forgery [Black Dome]』

『World Forgery: Phenomenon Forgery [Forest Scent]』

I erased my body and scent, hiding inside a black dome. From there, I peeked through a small gap.

In the distance, I saw monsters galloping after the car like beasts.

● Ghoul

They were ghouls—undead creatures born in graveyards when corpses absorbed curses. They also feasted on other corpses to grow stronger.

They are likely the result of Rebecca’s actions.

When people were around, they hid underground. But once the coast was clear, they emerged and headed for fresh graves to feast on the new supply of corpses.

Since their attention is on the car…

As I planned my next action, a red dot appeared on my minimap… directly behind me.

"Krrrrgh…"

I turned around and flinched.

A grotesque creature, nearly two meters tall, with a hunched back and exposed spinal bones, had lifted its head.

It was another ghoul, but not your typical one.

This wasn’t a corpse that had absorbed curses. This was an undead created by nature itself, as the land absorbed dark energy. A Natural Summon.

And of all the places it could be born… it had to be right behind me.

"Krrrkkk…"

I held my breath. 

It had just been born, which meant it was starving.

But thanks to [Black Dome] and [Forest Scent], it hadn’t noticed me yet.

"Krrrrrrrrk…"

Still, it seemed to sense the presence of soft, tender human flesh nearby, as it continued to wander around my hiding spot.

But come to think of it, there was no reason to be scared.

I had already prepared for a situation like this. 

Crusaders, deploy.

『World Forgery: Phenomenon Forgery [Holy Light]』

『World Forgery: Form Forgery [Priest]』

『World Forgery: Form Forgery [Inquisitor]』

『World Forgery: Form Forgery [Paladin]』

『World Forgery: Form Forgery [Saintess]』

『World Forgery: Form Forgery [Angel]』

⋮

A holy light cut through the night sky. At the bottom of the radiant light source—as if summoned by a divine miracle—stood an Order of the Holy Knights.

First, a priest emerged, bathed in brilliant light.

Then came an inquisitor, wielding two brutal-looking blades.

Next was a paladin, his armor and shield exuding divine radiance and sanctity.

Following them were a saintess and a towering angel, its form composed of a cluster of eyeballs.

All of these figures descended upon the land.

Upon seeing them, the startled ghoul immediately straightened its hunched back and tried to blend into the forest, awkwardly pretending to be a tree.

"Oh? A ghoul!” one of the crusaders exclaimed. 

"Krrrk?" The creature tilted its head with a surprised growl, as if to say, "How did they know?"

"It’s running away! Get it!"

"Kill that heathen!!"

And so, the illusory crusaders charged forward, relentlessly pursuing the poor, newborn ghoul.

The path is clear now.

With my safety secured, I continued climbing the mountain.

Around halfway up was a vast flatland, where I discovered a portion of the large cemetery.

A bit farther ahead, I also found the “strange space” the workers had mentioned.

In fact, it was impossible to miss. It stood out immediately, far too strange to ignore.

…What on earth is that?

Covering part of the cemetery and mountain was a pitch-black sphere.

It was hard to see in the night, but its outline became apparent when I crouched low and used the stars as a backdrop.

A massive, light-absorbing black sphere stood before me, like a black hole partially sunken into the ground.

I observed it in silence for a while. 

It wasn’t a dungeon. It wasn’t some magic spell or a unique ability either. It wasn’t even a curse.

Even my game windows didn’t react to it.

What the hell is that…?

I cautiously approached the black sphere, trying to gauge its size.

It was enormous, large enough to swallow the entire mountain peak.

A rough estimate put it at around 1,000 meters in diameter.

Could I enter it?

I carefully reached out to touch the dark membrane.

That was when a sudden game window popped up.

——

⧉ Tip: [Bugged Space] detected. This area is impacted by a bug and will be patched in a future update. Further details will be provided once a schedule has been established.

This… was not the kind of message I had expected.

No wonder I didn’t know about this incident, even as a veteran of the game.

A bug and an update?

I already knew I was inside the game’s world, but I didn’t expect to run into blatant real-life game terminology.

Oh, my hand’s inside…

Before I realized it, my hand had slipped into the bugged space.

Fortunately, it came back out without any resistance.

I cautiously stuck my head in next. There were no reactions or problems, so I walked inside.

The rest of the cemetery was within the bugged space. Nothing looked particularly out of place.

The black sphere is simply marking some kind of boundary. 

I slowly started advancing again and began climbing the hill.

On my way up, I noticed something odd.

Using 『Light Source』, I illuminated the ground and found shattered remnants of weapons.

So there really were subjugation attempts here…

I’d been told that the dean, a few chief professors, and even some cadets had come here before this area was sealed off.

Looking at these remnants, they must have been defeated.

But the Dean of the Assassin Department, Shaman Kreutz, was a Challenger-rated assassin—one of the top 200 combatants on the continent.

In other words, the dean was one of the kingdom’s strongest.

To put it into perspective, even if the seven top-tier cadets from the Black Dragon Division fought him all at once, they wouldn’t last a minute.

And even he couldn’t assassinate this ‘witch’ and chose to seal off the area…

Yet, despite these subjugation attempts, the witch had never killed anyone.

Perhaps she evaded confrontation altogether.

If so, why would the witch do such a thing?

Maybe I could find the answer soon, because the witch came into view. 

She was in front of me, about 20 meters ahead, seated atop the largest burial mound. A tattered, grimy cloak enveloped her figure, her back turned toward the moonlight. 

As the term “witch” suggested, her silhouette was humanoid.

Once I got closer, the “witch” turned her head toward me.

I stopped at a reasonable distance.

We both froze in silence, staring at each other.

That was when I finally understood why some people called her a “monster.”

She didn’t feel quite human, but more like a wild beast that sent shivers down my spine—a beast I had never seen before.

In the darkness, the glow of her blue eyes pierced through her hood.

For some reason, I recalled a particular fun fact. A little tip on how to reduce an unfamiliar dog’s wariness.

So, I decided to imitate that technique and slowly crouched down.

I was giving her time to observe me.

Seeing her lack of reaction, I checked her nametag.

● Eve 『Curse of Oblivion』

Eve.

That was a name I didn’t recognize.

In other words, she was a new character added in the DLC.

A curse was also displayed next to her name.

『Curse of Oblivion』… A high-level curse that erased someone from the memories of the world and its inhabitants.

Only high-class demons could cast such an advanced curse.

Is that why there’s so little information on her?

I could clearly see parts of her—her jawline and lips beneath the hood, even her ankles and bare feet further down.

And yet, she still didn’t feel human.

I could see why the few people who had retained some memory of her simply chose to call her a “witch” or a “monster.”

Eventually, Eve slowly began descending the burial mound and approached me.

She took one slow step at a time.

Part of me was terrified, especially since we were alone in the dark of night.

But I waited.

And finally, when she was close enough, my 『Light Source』 illuminated her face.

To my surprise, beneath that tattered hood was the face of a young woman, barely in her early twenties.

She was stunningly beautiful, reminding me of when I first saw Rebecca.

Her head was adorned with long, flowing sky-blue hair and clear, lake-blue eyes. Even the dirt and grime couldn’t conceal her pale, charming face.

But now wasn’t the time to admire her.

For a split second, I felt the sensation of a giant monster staring down at me, as if I were sinking into an endless, blue abyss.

Eve gradually crouched down in front of me and lifted her head, observing me even further.

Curiosity slowly got the better of me. I wanted to know her potential.

I needed physical contact to check it, but I wasn’t sure if I could move yet.

For some reason, the 【textbox】 wasn’t even showing anything. I had no way of knowing her thoughts.

In the end, I chose to act and gently reached my hand out with an open palm.

Even if I simply brushed her sleeve, I could get a look at her status window.

But Eve tilted her head, seemingly confused.

She then stopped me by placing her palm against mine, as if to say, "Don’t touch me."

Soon afterward, she slowly withdrew her hand, clearly showing her aversion to being touched.

But that was more than enough for me…

Eve Lemontree [3.0]

And I read a genuinely jaw-dropping number.

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