The Apocalypse Has Been Downloaded – Chapter 77

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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A gently swaying meadow.

Two moons in the sky.

And a giant wolf with silver fur, gleaming in the moonlight.

“[State your name.]”

The Queen of the Wolves asked for her name.

Sung Ha-rin mustered her courage and replied.

“M-my name is Sung Ha-rin.”

“[Good. Human Sung Ha-rin, are you prepared to receive the blessing of the full moon?]”

As Garia spoke, a notification window appeared before Sung Ha-rin.

Sung Ha-rin chose to change her class without hesitation.

She had been feeling that her current class wouldn’t allow her to keep up with Jang Jo-joon and the other women.

Having come to the Pantheon of Myriad Ghosts with a desperate hope and now being face-to-face with a divine being, the kind Jang Jo-joon always talked about, with the opportunity to form a connection, there was no reason to refuse this golden opportunity.

“Yes. I’m prepared…”

As she declared her willingness to accept the blessing of the blue moon, the surrounding wolves howled at the night sky, welcoming their new family member.

“[No hesitation. Good. I will accept you as one of our family.]”

“F-family…”

“[But the scent of the mortal world still clings to you too strongly. We need to remove that scent. Garum.]”

“A-wooo!!!”

At Garia’s call, a one-eyed, old male wolf responded with a loud howl and stepped forward, parting the pack.

“[This is my first fang, Garum. He will teach you the laws of the blue moon. Follow him and learn the laws. If you earn Garum’s approval, I will give you three trials. If you overcome them all, I will make you my avatar.]”

“Yes…!”

Garia returned to the forest. The other wolves followed suit.

Only the one-eyed wolf, Garum, remained before Sung Ha-rin.

“Growl…”

Garum bared its fangs and circled Sung Ha-rin.

Then, it warned her in a sharp voice.

“Mother may consider you family, but I have not yet accepted you as one of us. So I will push you to your limits. Give up now if you wish. If you show any weakness after the training begins… I will devour you on the spot.”

The killing intent emanating from the car-sized wolf…

…The intense, chilling aura made her legs tremble.

But despite the fierce warning, she didn’t back down. She couldn’t back down here.

“Oh? You’re withstanding this?”

Garum’s pressure intensified.

But the greater the pressure, the more Ha-rin’s fighting spirit burned.

If she gave up now and returned just because of a mere threat like this, she would eventually fall behind and be left out.

Perhaps she might even be abandoned.

‘I don’t want that. To be abandoned… to be deemed useless and discarded… I won’t tolerate that…’

Sung Ha-rin had been quite successful before the world ended.

Athletics, academics… She excelled at everything. An all-around overachiever. Someone who saw things through to the end.

But now, with the world ending and all sorts of monsters emerging, she was gradually falling behind.

The Barbarian class was specialized for individual survival, but it didn’t offer anything truly exceptional.

In the end, she admitted to herself that she was the weakest member of the team.

At first, she felt disheartened.

She felt her presence diminishing, overshadowed by the other women who boasted of their abilities.

Lee Eun-ji, who specialized in stealth and could slit throats before her targets even noticed her, Kang Ha-young, who manipulated blood and caused widespread destruction, and even the Han sisters had grown stronger than her as their levels increased.

Kim Ye-won had a clear advantage in her ability to freely control three summons.

Merhere was the strongest member of the team excluding Jang Jo-joon, so she couldn’t even compare to the fallen angel, and Kang Hee-sun, the Druid who controlled spirits, was indispensable.

She was the most useless human among the eight of them.

A mediocre existence, nothing more than a heartbeat detector.

That was her own harsh assessment of herself.

Although Jang Jo-joon, the leader, hadn’t openly discriminated against her or made her feel inadequate, she couldn’t stand her own weakness. Her pride wouldn’t allow her to accept the fact that she was falling behind.

‘That man isn’t the type to express or show such things…’

Jang Jo-joon was a man who blindly protected his women. Ha-rin knew that.

He didn’t openly show affection, but they all knew he cherished all eight of them equally.

That was why she didn’t want to be abandoned or deemed useless by him. How could she abandon a man who cherished her so blindly, even after just having sex once?

The thought made her irritated at this pointless display of dominance.

She didn’t like this wolf that judged her when the Queen of the Wolves had already given her approval.

“I don’t have time for this, so just tell me the laws already!! You damn mutt!!!”

She finally broke free from the oppressive aura.

She glared at the one-eyed, old wolf with anger and cursed at him.

Then she realized her mistake. She had spoken without thinking, cursing at this giant wolf in a moment of anger.

“What? Mutt? Did you just call me a mutt? Ha… Hahahaha!!!”

Garum roared with laughter.

A small fry, not even ninety years old, dared to call him, a wolf who had lived for hundreds of years, a mutt. He couldn’t help but laugh at her audacity.

Sung Ha-rin broke out in a cold sweat as the wolf’s laughter grew louder. She had spoken recklessly to escape his pressure, but now she was worried that she had crossed a line.

‘Was it too much to call a wolf a mutt…? Am I… going to die here…?’

Garum finally stopped laughing and looked down at Sung Ha-rin, who was sweating nervously.

Then, it leaned closer and growled.

“You damn human bitch…! You have guts, though. Fine. You little shit. As you wish, I’ll skip the pleasantries and drill the laws into you. Understand!? Answer!”

“Yes…!”

“Louder!!!”

“Yes!!”

“Is that even an answer!? Is that all you’ve got? Louder!!”

“Yes!!!”

“Still not enough!!! Show me your spirit!! Shout!!! Aagh!!! Follow me!! Aagh!!!”

“Aagh!!!”

Garum snorted in satisfaction at Sung Ha-rin’s roar.

“Good. Now I will teach you the laws of the blue moon! Repeat after me! Begin!!”

“B-begin!!”

Although it was difficult to keep up with his energy, Sung Ha-rin followed Garum’s instructions.

She was swept away by the wolf’s unique madness and strangely cheerful demeanor.

“First, we never abandon our comrades.”

“First!! We never abandon our comrades!!”

“Second, we protect our family.”

“Second!! We protect our family!!”

“Louder!!! Third!!!”

“Third!!!!”

“We never retreat!”

“We never!! Retreat!!!”

“Finally, we are warriors of the blue moon, who know honor, revere courage, and do not fear defeat.”

“We are! Warriors of the blue moon, who know honor, revere courage, and do not fear defeat!!!!”

After mindlessly shouting Garum’s words, her throat was sore. But there was no time to rest.

“To avoid abandoning your comrades and fleeing, you must be fierce. To protect your family, you must be ruthless. And to never retreat, you must be strong. Follow me. I will make you a warrior of the blue moon, capable of upholding our laws.”

Garum headed into the forest. Sung Ha-rin, rubbing her sore throat, followed the wolf into the forest.

Several hours later…

“More!!! Run faster!!! This is the path you chose!!! Don’t give up!!”

“Yes sir!!!”

Ha-rin shouted while rolling around in the mud.

She then thought to herself…

‘Maybe it would have been better to just go back.’

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Quite some time had passed.

During that time, Garum told her that time flowed differently here compared to reality.

So only a few days would have passed in the outside world.

Thanks to this, Sung Ha-rin ran freely across the meadow with the wolves, gradually becoming a beast herself.

Although she hadn’t realized it, this insane meadow, where night reigned eternally under the intersecting blue and yellow moons, awakened the madness within her, replacing her cautiousness and hesitation with courage and exhilaration.

As she ran across the meadow as usual, Sung Ha-rin suddenly realized that she had changed significantly since entering this place. But by the time she realized it, it was too late.

The scent of the human world had almost completely disappeared from her. Like a wolf-girl raised in the wild, her instincts and wild nature had grown stronger.

The shy, insecure woman was no longer there.

Sung Ha-rin had become a courageous warrior of the plains, a wild and ferocious beast who revered the blue moon.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes!!!”

“Good spirit.”

Having trained together in the forest and meadow for a long time, Garum and Ha-rin had become quite close.

Garum had initially intended to devour her, but he was impressed by her unwavering spirit and her refusal to give up. He was also moved by her growing courage.

Now, Garum considered Sung Ha-rin a fellow wolf who walked under the blue moon.

Although, in his eyes, she was still a young pup.

“You will now go meet Mother to undergo the trials.”

“Finally…”

Sung Ha-rin was excited at the thought of finally meeting Garia again.

Although she hadn’t realized it, having lived with the wolves for so long, her personality had become much more outgoing, and she could find joy in simple things.

She was excited and thrilled at the thought of meeting the giant wolf, her Mother, whom she had encountered on her first day.

“This is as far as I go. Follow this cave. Reaching Mother is your first trial.”

“Yes…!”

“You’ve worked hard. Let’s meet again out there, sister.”

“Thank you for everything!!”

Sung Ha-rin bowed her head in gratitude.

Garum returned to the forest and disappeared.

Sung Ha-rin stood alone before the cave.

‘If I pass through this cave…’

She could meet the Wolf Queen again and return to reality. Then she could see her Master and comrades again.

The thought of seeing them again filled her with excitement and joy.

Her heart already pounding with anticipation, Sung Ha-rin boldly stepped forward.

As expected, the cave was dark and damp.

And above all, it was a place of primal fear.

“Hmm…?”

As she quickened her pace, wanting to escape this place as soon as possible, she suddenly realized she couldn’t smell anything.

‘I can’t smell anything…’

But she couldn’t stop.

She continued forward.

She felt like she would be devoured by the cave if she stopped.

As she continued deeper into the straight cavern, her ears became muffled, and soon, she couldn’t hear anything.

And it wasn’t just that. The further she went, the more her senses were blocked one by one.

Finally, even her last remaining sense, sight, was blocked, and Sung Ha-rin couldn’t even tell if she was walking or standing still.

‘Wh-what is this…?’

She was lost.

She had no sense of direction and she wasn’t even sure if she was moving forward.

She experienced fear in this state of sensory deprivation.

Panic set in, and her thoughts became muddled. Anxiety grew, and she wanted to escape from this place.

‘A wolf never retreats.’

The laws of the blue moon suddenly came to her mind.

No matter how afraid a wolf was, once it started running, it never turned back.

Whether it lived or died, it simply moved forward, forging a path.

That was the role of the vanguard, the essence of a blue moon beast.

Sung Ha-rin steeled her resolve and moved forward again.

Then, a voice echoed in her mind.

[Do not be bound by the limitations of your five senses.]

[What we must see lies beyond them.]

[Do not limit yourself, and trust your sixth sense.]

[Do not stop, and move forward.]

[Cutting through the wind, with the moonlight at your back.]

These words became her guide, allowing her to focus her scattered thoughts.

She abandoned the thought of seeing.

She abandoned the thought of hearing and smelling.

She simply felt.

Her surroundings, and herself.

“Alright.”

Soon, she could feel it.

She could see without seeing, and she could understand without hearing.

She moved forward again.

Her steps were light and swift, free from hesitation and doubt.

“[Congratulations. You have passed the first trial.]”

Reaching the end of the cave, Sung Ha-rin saw a woman waiting for her in a vast chamber.

“Huh…?”

It was a woman with shimmering silver hair.

And pointed animal ears… An incredibly beautiful woman.

“[This is your first time seeing me in this form. Come here, my child.]”

It was Garia, Master of the Blue Moon.

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T/N – So it’s Ha-rin’s mini-arc for now. Hopefully, this won’t take too long. I still prefer the MC’s pov.

If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.