The Earth is Online Chapter 15.2
Everyone had just seen the big match’s attack power.
Seeing the little girl take a match out of nowhere, everyone was completely startled. Tang Mo was even more surprised and for a moment didn’t react. This match and Tang Mo’s match looked exactly the same. If it really was Tang Mo’s match, then this match could hit the big mole back two steps. Its attack power wasn’t something that they could counter.
The cook was totally unaware of the big match’s power since he had already passed out at that time. He watched the little girl come charging at him and subconsciously went to catch the match while simultaneously slamming a fist toward the little girl’s abdomen. But his hand had not yet met the little girl’s clothing when, with a booming sound, the match slammed down onto the top of his head.
“Thump!” A divot was smashed into the cook’s skull. Blood steadily flowed.
This scene was incomparably familiar. Tang Mo had previously used a similar method to accidentally kill the thief Qian Sankun.
But the cook didn’t immediately die. He collapsed in pain. Soon after, blood flowed over his face. His body twitched and the little girl immediately swung the match, again wanting to slam it down. Unexpectedly, a black shadow quickly leaped over and grabbed hold of her big match.
The big mole’s sharp claw firmly grabbed onto the big match. It was unable to hide its excitement. “Mosaic’s match? A delicious match? Ah, Black Tower, why are you so good to me today? Once again, giving me a second…”
“Snap!”
The big mole’s claw gripped tight and, before it was finished speaking, that match was broken. The match head fell to the ground.
The big mole was suddenly dumb-founded. It blinked its small eyes, looking stupidly at the match that had been broken into two, like it was a character in a cartoon that had been paused.
“No! How could Mosaic’s match be so easily broken? This isn’t Mosaic’s match! You cheated me!”
A thread of cruelty flashed through the big mole’s eyes. With a swish, it twisted its head and looked at the little girl.
The little girl’s complexion was pale and she tottered backward several steps. The big mole gave a shriek and, fast as lightning, slapped a paw onto the little girl’s head.
“Ah!”
Lin Qiao’s complexion was frightened and pale. She sank paralyzed to the dirt and turned her head, not daring to take a look.
The cook fell to the ground and it was unclear if he was dead or alive.
Li Wen and Li Bin also couldn’t watch this scene. Just like Lin Qiao, they twisted their heads so that they weren’t looking.
Tang Mo surprisingly took a few unguarded glances. [1] He quickly turned his head and saw from the corner of his eye that Luo Fengcheng was actually watching without blinking, his brows locked tight. He seemed to be considering something.
He walked to the cook’s side and checked to see if the cook was breathing. After a silent moment, he turned his head to say, “He’s dead.”
The expressions of Li Wen and the two others changed.
They hadn’t imagined that the cook would actually be smashed to death with a match by a little girl.
The big mole condescendingly said, “This fake Mosaic's match is really no good. If it was the real match, he would have definitely died the instant it struck him. This cheater’s thing only has two tenths of the original’s quality. But her ability is actually quite interesting. It can copy any item that was seen in the last twenty-four hours, limited to twice a day. What a pity, the ability grade is too low and can only copy a few useless small things. Mosaic’s match can’t really be copied.”
Tang Mo said, “You know her ability?”
As if it were obvious, the big mole said, “I ate her, so the Black Tower naturally told me about her ability. This stinky stowaway. If she could really copy Mosaic’s match well, I might think about not eating her. She can copy a match for me every day!”
Luo Fengcheng said, “So her ability was like this. That flashlight makes sense. All of a sudden, she came to a dark environment. Her first thought was certainly to light it up. She happened to have seen a flashlight in the last twenty-four hours and just copied it.”
Tang Mo nodded his head in agreement.
From the beginning, Tang Mo had been most suspicious of Peng Yu Wen.
Before they had been pulled into this tower attack game, it had been daytime. Why was that little girl carrying a flashlight in broad daylight? Even if she really had been holding a flashlight in her hand and had also taken it when she entered the game, they had slid down that long tunnel and their bodies were randomly knocked around non-stop. Tang Mo had been bumped about until he was dizzy, but a little girl could actually still firmly hold a flashlight without it being sent flying?
That didn’t make sense.
[Ding dong! Ding dong! Completed the second side mission: Find that damn stowaway.]
When the melodious childlike voice sounded, Tang Mo inexplicably felt that it seemed a bit happy. Was it because a stowaway had been killed?
Tang Mo, however, had none of the happiness of winning a game. He was quietly looking at the two pools of blood on the ground.
Tang Mo raised his head and said, “You just said that Mosaic’s match is amazing. Is it really so amazing?”
The big mole gave a giggling laugh. “Of course. It’s both hard and solid and, most importantly, can roast a very delicious turkey…hic…” It had just eaten a turkey and a stowaway, and the big mole’s mood was clearly pretty good. It rubbed its head. “Oh, right, taking your match to roast a bird was really not good of me. Then, like this… How about I give you a turkey egg?”
The big mole began to dig in the dirt, quickly and effortlessly digging a big hole, revealing innumerable white turkey eggs.
“You humans are unable to hatch a turkey, but turkey eggs are also very delicious. I’ll reluctantly…” The big mole took a completely ordinary white egg out of the countless turkey eggs. It shut both its eyes and begrudgingly passed it to Tang Mo. “Here, take this egg to eat, okay. Don’t say I’m stingy. Uncle Mole is the cutest and most kind-hearted little animal in the Underground City.”
Tang Mo: “...”
[Ding dong! Obtained a side mission reward - a giant turkey egg!]
Taking the white turkey egg, Tang Mo noticed that the mole’s fur was even shinier and that the build of its body also seemed a bit bigger.
Don’t tell me that eating a stowaway could really increase strength?
But there seemed to be a bit of pitch black mist on the side of the mole’s skull. When Tang Mo looked at it, that mist suddenly disappeared. He had probably seen it wrong.
Li Wen said, “Ah? Then do we get a turkey egg? We also helped you roast the bird…hic, we at least helped you find the stowaway, right? Is there a reward?”
The big mole disdainfully glanced at Li Wen and laughed sinisterly. “Reward? There is, ah.”
The big mole twisted its body and stuck is butt out. With a rumbling sound, it let out an incomparably strange smelling, incomparably strange sounding fart.
“Your reward is a fart!”
Everyone: “...”
Tang Mo, who had been accidentally implicated: “..."
[PREV] [TOC] [NEXT]
Character Refresher:
Li Bin (李彬), 29, male, works at a PR firm.
Peng Yu Wen (彭玉雯), 18/15, female, first year of university/a fifteen year old. Schrodinger's underage murderer.
Tang Mo (唐陌), 23, male, librarian. Our protagonist! :D
Li Wen (黎文), 25, male, unemployed. A foolishly sweet second generation.
Lin Qiao (林巧), 20, female, university student, Gamer.
Zhao Xiang (赵翔), 32, male, former chef.
Luo Fengcheng (洛风城), 28, Black Tower researcher, wears glasses and looks refined.
Uncle Mole (鼹鼠叔叔), a cute mole! ^_^
Translation Notes:
[1] 唐陌倒是没有防备地多看了几眼 - I’m not entirely sure I translated it clearly, but the meaning is that he watched for a bit longer than the others and then (it’s implied) couldn’t stand to watch anymore. Only Luo Fengcheng watched the whole time.
Only one footnote this time… that’s weird… it feels wrong… I will just randomly give my thoughts about this arc here, then. You can ignore it if you want... I don’t think there’s anything that really still needs explaining for clarification reasons. However:
I actually think the bit about Peng Yu Wen’s flashlight is way more compelling evidence than the things mentioned previously that revealed her identity.
Additionally, there’s a point in this arc that has always bugged me: They seem to carefully confirm Luo Fengcheng isn’t a stowaway because “a stowaway wouldn’t use their ability to create a black tower researcher ID card, therefore he must really be one” ergo “he couldn’t be a killer, because a black tower researcher wouldn’t have the need or ability to kill.” But this totally ignores the fact that the ID card doesn’t have a photo on it.
He could have killed someone in the first three days and then, on the fourth day, after everything went to shit, either picked up an ID card he found (Tang Mo literally sees people breaking into the research facility) or killed a black tower researcher isolated by the disappearances, taking their ID card. I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that this kind of thing might have a future use. On entering the game, this identity really is a bit too eye-catching to use right off the bat, so he could have kept it hidden. When the situation became like this, he could have pulled it out to manipulate the group’s thinking with the exact logic used to clear his identity as a stowaway.
I didn’t want to mention it before since someone might still be thinking there could be a sudden turn of events, but now that it’s been confirmed by our cute Uncle Mole that the sole stowaway was Peng Yu Wen, I wanted to bring it up. This has always bothered me!!! If I can think of it, Tang Mo can think of it!!
Also the original version of this chapter is gorier… The print version changes so much… I’ve been thinking more and more about switching over… ε-(´・`) But the print version is really convenient for me to work from, especially when I'm work. (Yes, I do translation work while I'm on the clock. Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that's why I read danmei on company time.)
2 notes
·
View notes
Hodge shoots one more time, at a big rock. It’s going to land hard.
HODGE: Get ready, gal!
Ruby breaks free of the muck, dragging Crescent Rose out of the Kelpie as she goes.
She uses her Semblance again to hit the ceiling with a byew, holding out Crescent Rose to slash the rocks in a straight line. The Kelpie looks up, right on time to be hit by the rockfall. It sinks into its puddle, burdened.
KELPIE: REIIIGHH…
The entire lair is shaking now. Ruby and Hodge escape via Ruby’s Semblance, popping back onto land. Hodge slowly pushes up.
HODGE: Whoa nelly.
The ground shakes.
*rumble*
*rrumble*
Ruby runs from the source of the sound, which gives one last *rumble* before the Kelpie erupts from the earth, tall as a building.
KELPIE: REIIGHH
HODGE: It absorbed all the goshdang puddles! What the—
Tiny Ruby is using her Semblance regardless.
HODGE [thinking]: That gal’s either going in between the eyes or that wound in its throat…or straight through the mane…but it’s tough to puncture, even at peak Semblance. Shame to see such a bright soul go out…
Ruby is about to get stuck in the Kelpie.
HODGE [thinking]: …but it doesn’t have to be that way. Blizzard, storm, rain, flood…I’ve weathered them all. But this old man…ain’t giving up now.
He uses his own Semblance.
HODGE: O FIRE IN ME, KEEP ME WARM!
Rays of light appear from his chest.
HODGE: AAAAAAAAAA
The Grimm looks down to its own metaphorical heart and sees the same intense rays. It’s being melted from the inside, burning to wisps. It can’t make a sound as the rays grow brighter, and brighter…
Ruby wakes up, and covers her eyes from the sun. She looks to the left. Hodge is face down on the grass, passed out.
They made it into town…got their shopping done…
Hodge stops to talk to a bull Faunus wearing a nose ring. A few minutes later he receives a lavender orb, glowing softly.
HODGE: Hey gal. Won a bet. This thing’s supposed to be good for teleportation one time. Maybe it’ll help you wherever you need to go.
He walks off into the setting sun.
HODGE: So long, stranger.
Ruby holds up the orb.
RUBY: I wish to be taken closer to the genie.
WHOOSH!
She is immediately transported to a frozen wasteland.
RUBY: oh darnit
(Next)
(Previous)
(First)
(TOC)
0 notes