WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 43: Origin

──────

I had never even thought about what server Kim Jina was from.

No, I had never thought about anywhere beyond the Tower I was in.

What had I based my judgment on when I decided the Tower of Trials wasn't a lawless place where the strong preyed on the weak?

Everything I knew about society in the Tower came from news articles I'd seen outside and things I'd learned after entering the Tower and browsing the community.

The former wasn't trustworthy in the first place. Communication between the world of the Tower of Trials and the outside was slow and inaccurate.

And the Open Community used a fully real-name system.

The writer's real name and the server they belonged to were displayed openly in the community. When you thought about it, it was a system optimized for tracking people down and fighting them in person.

If someone talking shit about me belonged to the same Tower, I could find them and kill them myself.

Even if they weren't a Challenger from the same Tower, they could still hurt me indirectly if they had connections with a large guild.

That was why it would be incredibly difficult to get negative information about a particular Ranker or group through the community.

The only people who knew exactly what Choi Gilhyeon had done on Server 1554, and what he might do in the future, were Challengers from that same server.

His strength couldn't be underestimated just because he was a Low-floor Ranker. If he had a faction built around his connections too...

It wasn't impossible that he ruled Server 1554 as an untouchable tyrant nobody could touch.

Kim Jina, who was on the same server as someone like that, probably hadn't had a choice.

Calling it betrayal was almost funny. We hadn't even been close enough to risk our lives for each other in the first place.

"Starting to get it now? You messed with the wrong person. Why'd a beggar bastard like you have to act up..."

Choi Gilhyeon grinned as he tapped my shoulder with the tip of his spear.

"You're that guy, aren't you? That Solo Player bastard who cried on the community about his mom dying."

He looked absolutely certain I couldn't fight because of the Paralysis Poison in my tea. Well, of course he did.

This bastard was a Ranker staying on Floor 25. He could use high-grade poison that someone like me, still lingering on the lower floors, could never obtain.

The tip of my tongue had been getting slightly numb for a while, so he'd definitely used some pretty strong Paralysis Poison.

[Paralysis Resistance Lv. 15]

[Poison Resistance Lv. 19]

If I hadn't been able to resist the Paralysis Poison with double-digit resistance in both, I wouldn't have been able to move at all.

Choi Gilhyeon must have looked me up in the community while I was sitting there, because he was busy running his mouth about my mother.

I answered Choi Gilhyeon, standing right behind me with his guard completely open, by swinging the hatchet at my waist.

-Crack!

The axe I casually swung from my seat buried itself right in Choi Gilhyeon's crotch.

"Urk!"

Caught off guard, Choi Gilhyeon couldn't even scream properly.

But that was an act.

Just seeing how he kept running his mouth after getting beaten with the Mithril Wand for so long told me his Defense was extremely high.

Thanks to the HP-based protection effect shared by every Challenger in the Tower of Trials, he probably wasn't even badly hurt.

The protection provided by HP, which prevented fatal injuries, varied depending on Defense and the damage taken.

-Crash!

I kicked aside a cafeteria chair as I stood, then drove my foot into the solar plexus of the younger brother in heavy armor.

After casually sending the two of them flying, I opened my inventory and switched equipment at my leisure.

How much faith had Choi Gilhyeon put in that Paralysis Poison?

Maybe he thought it would be enough if it weakened me, even if it couldn't completely disable me.

Otherwise, there would've been no reason for him to come prepared for a fight with proper equipment.

"You fucking idiot."

I unequipped the armor and weapons I'd invested only in [Durability], then equipped the full gear set I hadn't worn in a while.

He probably never imagined I'd been holding back.

* * *

There was such a difference in skill between us that I could comfortably crush him even in a trash-item setup.

With my full gear equipped and my specs raised, Choi Gilhyeon couldn't land so much as a graze with his spear. It was a completely one-sided beating.

"Ghk, ugh..."

Choi Gilhyeon lay facedown on the floor with his right arm and left leg severed, while his younger brother was in a similar state against the wall.

It had taken less than five minutes to create this scene. That was what happened when I completely abandoned restraint.

"H-How... how are you this strong...?"

Kim Jina couldn't even rise from where we'd been talking. She just sat there trembling.

I shook the blood from my sword and slowly walked toward Kim Jina.

"P-Please spare me."

Foreseeing the price of betrayal, Kim Jina clasped her hands and began begging, asking me to spare her and saying she'd do anything.

But I had never intended to kill Kim Jina in the first place. The same went for Choi Gilhyeon and his younger brother lying over there.

I understood Kim Jina's position. She'd been in a situation where she had no choice, and expecting loyalty from her would've been stupid.

Yeah, I knew that too. We'd only known each other for one day. I knew she'd been forced into a situation where betrayal was inevitable.

But it still pissed me off.

"Why?"

I asked myself. Why was I so upset?

Spending time with Kim Jina had made me feel at ease. I'd tasted the serotonin I'd forgotten existed.

Even though I'd sworn never to stop, I'd gotten swept up in the Festival atmosphere and spent my time leisurely.

But I'd been caught up in that Festival mood the moment I stepped into the event map. That had nothing to do with Kim Jina.

The conclusion came quickly. I just wanted to rest.

I wanted to interact with other people and build some kind of relationship. I wanted to form a party and relax like ordinary Challengers did.

And I'd sought what I wanted from Kim Jina, the first person who had approached me.

"P-Please, Jinhyeok... spare me. Please, please."

But this was the result.

Kim Jina had no choice but to betray me, and I had no choice but to be betrayed like this. The reason was obvious.

Because I fought Choi Gilhyeon? Because Kim Jina happened to be in the same Tower as Choi Gilhyeon? Because Choi Gilhyeon had someone backing him?

No. It was all because I was a Solo Player.

Because I was a Solo Player, I was ignorant of what went on in other Towers. Because I was a Solo Player, I was bound to run into this kind of conflict someday.

Even if I hadn't formed a party with Kim Jina, even if I hadn't clashed with Choi Gilhyeon, it would've happened eventually.

What was strange about a Solo Player ending up alone? It was only natural.

[Friends List]

I sheathed my sword, opened the system, and deleted the three people registered on my friends list.

Then I added Kim Jina and the other two to my block list. I had no connection to them anymore.

Leaving the critically injured Choi brothers and Kim Jina behind, I left the cafeteria alone.

They said Top-grade Potions could even reattach severed limbs.

Choi Gilhyeon had a reliable backer, so even if I left him like that, he wouldn't die or be crippled. He'd recover just fine somehow.

Then Kim Jina would probably be killed by Choi Gilhyeon.

Still, Kim Jina should be able to kill Choi Gilhyeon alone while he lay there with his limbs severed.

One of the two would definitely die, but since I'd blocked them through the system, I'd never find out how it ended.

Why would a Solo Player like me care about another Challenger's circumstances?

One death I had to take responsibility for was enough.

* * *

When I left the Festival map, the gloomy atmosphere of Floor 6 welcomed me back.

It couldn't have been more different from the Festival map, filled with the smell of delicious food from street stalls.

Who knew the scent of blood, corpses, and poison could feel this welcoming?

It felt like I'd returned to where I was supposed to be, somewhere like home.

I changed my equipment again and headed for the Labyrinth. I'd already cleared Floor 6 up to the boss before the event began.

-Creeeak!

The heavy iron doors opened, revealing the boss room. Sitting on a throne in the darkness was a single rotting skeleton.

[Blood and corpses are his servants, and only the crows that peck at corpses are his friends.]

[Only death should be returned to one who has overcome death and returned.]

A system message I found strangely relatable appeared, and black energy began pouring out around the skeleton.

[BOSS - Master of the Dungeon, Lich Wight]

A lich, a monstrous Mage who had overcome death and continued living in a dead body.

-Grrrrr!

At the lich's gesture, soldiers made of bone, Skeletons, began rising from the floor.

The Skeletons rushed me all at once, and I swung my sword and shield, smashing every last one of them.

During that time, the lich chanted while covered in black energy, and I knew what that spell would bring forth.

After finishing its spell without interruption while I dealt with the horde of Skeletons, the lich finally summoned a knight dressed entirely in pitch black.

The strongest elite monster on Floor 6, the Death Knight.

The Death Knight broke through the wall of Skeletons and charged at me. Its greatsword collided with my straight sword.

"Yeah, this is it."

My face, faintly reflected in the clashing blades, no longer looked unfamiliar.

[Congratulations. You are the first to clear Floor 6 of the Tower of Trials.]

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried