Chapter 1: A Glorious Final Stand?1장렬한 – Glorious, 최후 – End.
Can be understood as “A Glorious Ending” or “A Glorious Final Stand”
The front lines were flooded with pitch-black enemy forces that surged forth like a storm ripping through the ground. On the other side, even if they combined all their forces together, it was a situation akin to one versus a hundred.
It wasn’t unexpected. Since he had been appointed as the chief commander at the age of seventeen by the Emperor’s order, he had known it would come to this. It was a luxury to complain of sorrow or despair now. Retreating was also not an option.
“Commander, you must evacuate quickly. The commander at least…”
The urgent voice of a young knight who had just come of age reached him, but he simply stood there, silently gazing at the horizon where the black swarm of enemies was approaching. Even if he abandoned the knights who had followed him so far and fled alone to save his life, what would be left? He would only be branded by his family as an eternal disgrace. Besides, his family wouldn’t care much if the thorn in their side known as the second son disappeared anyway.
He already knew. Perhaps from the very beginning. He knew that he would die here, and that this would be the last act of honor he could perform for his family and the Empire. Thus, he smiled brightly at the knights who were looking at him with pitiful eyes.
“A commander fleeing alone without dignity? People would laugh if they found out.”
“But, Commander…”
“It’s fine. Though I’m a bit regretful having to spend my last moments with a bunch of rough men like you, what can I do?”
There was a moment of silence. Then, one by one, smiles began to bloom on the faces of the knights standing around him. Each of them wore a bright, mischievous grin–not at all like men who were about to die.
“Excuse me, Commander, do you think we’ll hold you in our arms to comfort you if you say so?”
“Right. We also would’ve been a little less disappointed if we could’ve spent our final moments with a beauty instead of the commander.”
“I haven’t even dated once! It’s so unfair that I have to spend my last moments rubbing shoulders with dark, gruff men to the end!”
“How pitiful.”
“You say that as if it doesn’t concern you, but aren’t you in the same boat, Commander?”
The pitch-black army that was like a swarm of ants was now right in front of them. The knights, each having spoken their piece, now took up their weapons and prepared to meet their end. And at the forefront, the Commander drew his sword and shouted his final command.
“Let’s go, you fools! It’s been disgusting being with you; let’s not meet again in the next life!”
TN: Hi all, this is Divine here (not the original translator). I’ll be retranslating this novel from the start. I’m leaving the other chapters up in case you want to read ahead, but I will not guarantee the quality.
A couple additional notes from me:
Translation2I am a (human) Chinese translator, not a Korean one. Thus, I am using multiple sources of MTL to redo these Korean chapters. With that said, please read with a grain of salt on the accuracy as it cannot reflect the meaning perfectly. Even for my CTL, there’s no way to perfectly capture the original meaning. If there are any mistakes or better translations, feel free to comment below or message me in the server.
If you are a (human) Korean translator or can read Korean, I will of course highly recommend simply reading the original Korean version and support the author.3If you are a decent or very good Korean translator, the Korean publishers are looking to expand into the English market. If you have the skills, then try applying to be an official translator there. If there’s a ready-made English version of a novel, I would gladly enjoy not spending my time on translating it to read.
These novels aren’t really my cup of tea but if there’s another novel on this site that you want to have redone, you can fill out this google form: (Re) Translation Request.4Do keep in mind that I am a Chinese translator at the end of the day and I’ll very very happily pass on the task to another KTL if they’re willing. I will not guarantee I pick up the novel though since I’m busy with work.
Last note if you happen to be reading a novel I translate… Aiyah5Don’t come after me for not posting (･ω├┬┴┬┴.
