WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

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◈ Alone Against the Tower ◈

Chapter 75: Uncanny Valley

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Eleanor said nothing more and quietly left the room.

Alone again, I tried to continue meditating, but I couldn't concentrate at all, so I simply went to sleep.

The next morning.

After making a few quick preparations, I was about to leave when countless Dark Elves came to see me off. Had word already gotten around?

"Isn't this too early? Since you're here, you should stay for about ten years. What a shame."

"Hey, don't you know ten years is an incredibly long time for humans?"

"Is it? Then just five years... I barely even got to talk to you."

Even though I was now Eleanor's betrothed, not a single Dark Elf questioned the fact that I was leaving.

It had only been a day since I'd taken the position of fiancé through a duel. Did they not care?

Maybe they knew from the beginning that it was only an excuse. Or maybe they thought I would return.

Well, considering the nature of the eighth floor, there was no real problem with them thinking that.

The eighth floor, where the Faction Quest continued, was set in the future of the seventh floor.

According to the community, the same quest Non-Player Characters appeared there too, so I'd eventually meet these people again.

Naturally, Rizmel and the members of the Reconnaissance Team were among those seeing me off.

"Hey, human. Take this."

Rizmel held something out to me. When I accepted it, the item's name appeared.

[Night Raven Cloak]

It was a black cloak with a faint purple tint. It had no stats, but it came with the unique skill [Stealth].

Stealth was a common skill for rogue-type classes. It was a simple skill that erased one's footsteps and presence.

It wasn't an especially amazing skill, but neither was it weak enough to be attached to an item.

"It's a cloak that hides your presence. I'm giving it to you so you won't do anything too reckless. Don't get any weird ideas."

I had no idea what sort of misunderstanding Rizmel thought I might have, but it wasn't the first time Rizmel had said something like that.

"Thanks. I'll put it to good use."

When I accepted it and thanked Rizmel without protest, Rizmel's face reddened slightly before turning away with a sharp motion.

Rizmel wasn't the only one giving me something.

"Hey, human. Take this too."

A Reconnaissance Team member whose work I'd helped with for a while handed me a familiar-looking piece of shoulder armor.

[Elite Reconnaissance Team Member's Insignia]

It was armor known as one of the most important rewards from the Dark Elf quests.

Huh? Wasn't this hard to get?

"It was temporary, but we were still members of the same reconnaissance team, weren't we? And you did incredibly well with Rizmel."

Once again, I accepted it with thanks. The other Dark Elves each gave me something as well.

Some were practical items, such as high-quality potions and elixirs that raised stats. Others were food, like snacks and lunch boxes.

"I made it in a hurry, so it looks a little rough, but use it. It'll be useful."

On top of that, the blacksmith Erwen gave me a bracer that could create a magic shield for a brief moment.

I was essentially receiving all the rewards I could have earned by progressing through the seventh-floor Faction Quest perfectly.

And naturally, the finishing touch came from Eleanor.

Eleanor's gift was not a simple farewell present, but repayment for breaking off the engagement.

In other words, it was the reward for this Epic Quest. What Eleanor handed me was a simply designed pendant.

Pendant items were rare, so I would've been satisfied regardless of its performance.

But after hearing its description, it wasn't merely good. It was practically broken.

Maybe because the difficulty had far exceeded what was appropriate for the seventh floor, the reward did too.

And this wasn't even the final reward, since the quest itself was supposed to continue beyond the seventh floor.

"Then are you now going to challenge those trials?"

"That's right. Did I tell you that?"

"Of course I know. Wasn't it something we spoke about often?"

Eleanor's eyes burned like starlight. They held an intense curiosity toward an unknown world.

Come to think of it, Eleanor had once said she wanted to travel to another world together someday.

If conflict with the High Elves hadn't been looming, Eleanor might have said she wanted to come with me.

It could never happen as long as Eleanor was a Non-Player Character, though.

"I hope you complete the trials and fulfill your wish at the end of your journey."

Eleanor knew that my goal was to visit my mother's grave. Eleanor also knew how much that goal meant to me.

"And when your journey ends, if you have nowhere else to go... you may return to my side anytime."

"I can return?"

"What is strange about that? You are my betrothed. The place beside me will always be yours."

It was impossible as long as this place was merely a Tower of Trials server.

Even so, I was deeply grateful for those words.

[Quest Complete: Dark Elf's Letter - Prologue]

With the system message announcing the quest's completion, I said my final goodbye.

"Thanks for everything."

The Dark Elves answered my farewell with smiles and waves. Eleanor did as well.

The gently waving hands, the faint smiles, every last detail was identical, as though stamped from the same mold.

"Farewell."

"Farewell."

"Farewell."

Even the words spoken by dozens of Dark Elves moving their lips were identical enough to give me chills.

"Hey, what the fuck... Don't joke around."

Like the shepherd girl I had met on the second floor, and like the countless inorganic, tin-can Non-Player Characters on the other floors.

"What's wrong? Is there something else you need?"

Only Eleanor answered my panicked words.

The other Dark Elves merely tilted their heads with creaking movements.

Even the angle of their tilted heads was identical. Their synchronized movements made them look like machines in a factory.

"Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"

At least Eleanor spoke and acted differently, but Eleanor's tone and expression were clearly different from before.

No, even the presence I felt was different. That intense presence from before was nowhere to be found.

Eleanor still reacted like a person and acted like a person, but never looked like one.

Eleanor looked like nothing more than something imperfectly imitating a person, and an instinctive revulsion surged through my entire body.

"No. No, it's nothing."

Seeing me like that, the Dark Elves who adored humans stretched out dozens of hands at once, as if worried about me.

I fled the village and headed toward the Labyrinth area on the seventh floor.

The Faction Quest wasn't over yet. It would continue on the eighth floor.

I'd thought something like this might happen someday, but I never imagined it would be now.

Didn't the same Non-Player Characters appear on the eighth floor too? Then why had this happened?

Surely they wouldn't still be like this when I met them again on the eighth floor?

"What the hell is this, fuck..."

Grasping onto my confused mind and heart, I made my way toward the boss room on trembling legs.

The seventh-floor Labyrinth area was very small, and it had no treasure chests or anything like that. I reached the boss room quickly.

I didn't have time to think about what had happened. Honestly, I didn't think I could bear thinking about it any longer.

I just wanted to hurry to the eighth floor and check the NPCs' condition.

For that, I needed to calm down now. Don't waste time.

Creeeak.

When I opened the door, I saw torches blazing brightly within, and the seventh-floor boss in the distance.

[At the end of the food chain in the great forest inhabited by countless beasts stood none other than the overlord of the skies.]

A giant human-faced bird flapped its wings while giant wasps buzzed around it.

[BOSS - Palkan, Overlord of the Skies]

The seventh-floor boss looked like a male harpy. It was a flying enemy, practically the natural enemy of melee warriors.

Its specs weren't especially remarkable, but it was the annoying type that barely gave you a chance to deal damage.

It even had a pattern where it ate the hovering wasps to recover HP once its health dropped.

Because of that vicious pattern that seemed to scorn warriors, it was known as a boss that required ranged attackers such as Mages or archers.

But I had already far surpassed seventh-floor specs, and any desire to waste time on a piece of shit like this had vanished.

I took a large iron ball from my inventory.

I drank the stat-raising elixir I'd received earlier and activated the pendant's effect that Eleanor had given me.

Rumble!

Mana light shimmered around my body, and explosive power began overflowing within me.

The pendant stored mana, then released it whenever its user wanted, activating Mana Enhancement.

It had many limitations. It wasn't affected by my Intelligence stat, and the enhancement value was fixed.

Even so, Mana Enhancement was still Mana Enhancement. Power more astonishing than when [Indomitable] activated filled my body.

Screech!

The boss flapped its wings and began flying toward me to attack.

It was undoubtedly moving at a fair speed, but compared to Mercedes using Mana Enhancement, it looked frozen in place.

[Lightning Charge]

[Sensory Amplification]

[Hysterical Strength]

I activated every buff skill I had. The iron ball charged with electricity warped in my hand.

Boom!

When I hurled the iron ball with all my strength, the boss's entire left chest vanished.

Fragments of torn-off wing and flesh scattered through the air as the boss fell straight down.

[Congratulations. You are the first to clear the 7th Floor of the Tower of Trials.]

[Achievement Accomplished: One Strike, One Kill]

[You have obtained Achievement Reward: ‘Active Skill - Weakness Insight’.]

Footnotes:

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