WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability

Chapter 101

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Boss Supervision (2)

The ice castle was completed before long. At least on the outside.

The Demon King wandered through the interior, refining each space.

The first area he finished was something like an audience chamber with a throne.

Then he sat on the ice throne, propping his chin on one hand.

He quietly looked around as if admiring it, then suddenly muttered,

“There are no subjects.”

“Sorry?”

What was this sudden subject talk again...?

The Demon King sat on the throne and did nothing until the allotted time ran out.

After getting my body back, I hunted in Zone 5, then left the Tower.

When I checked the Communication Window, I had one whisper.

[Mountain Range: Hello, Person123-nim. It has been a while since I last contacted you.

On behalf of the Peacekeeping Corps, I offer our deepest thanks for clearing Floor 7 and extending the one-year Time Limit once again.

...To get to the point, our Peacekeeping Corps plans to clear the upcoming Zone 3 boss in cooperation with the Black Star Society. So, shameless as it is, there is one favor I very much want to ask of Person123-nim...]

A long whisper from Peacekeeping Corps Captain Alex.

He was asking me to help with the Zone 3 boss kill.

The Zone 3 boss gauge was currently at 99.1%.

Just as Peacekeeping Corps and Black Star Society executives had supervised when I killed the Zone 1 and Zone 2 bosses, they were asking me to take that role.

I replied right away.

[Person123: Understood.]

There was no need for them to ask.

I had already planned to watch the Zone 3 kill anyway.

Even though several days had passed since I cleared Floor 7, I still hadn’t challenged the hidden route for this reason. I wanted to help here first.

I owed the Peacekeeping Corps some consideration too.

I would have killed it solo anyway, but when I was about to go for the Zone 3 boss, the Peacekeeping Corps still tried to step in and help.

And even aside from that, this was obviously something I should do.

A boss in the level-60 range.

If things went even slightly wrong, a lot of people could die.

All I had to do was watch the boss fight and make sure no one died.

* * *

Media outlets all over the world poured out news about the Zone 3 boss battle.

Since mostly high-level Climbers would be participating, public attention naturally focused on it.

Then another breaking story dropped and drew even more eyes.

[Article King: Is it true Person123 is helping with the Zone 3 boss battle?]

[Tov: It’s true. I’m in the Peacekeeping Corps, and they said he replied.]

Governments around the world were able to relax too.

They had been on edge this whole time.

This boss fight could have turned into a major disaster, with their valuable high-level Climbers dying if anything went wrong.

But if Person123 stepped in, success was practically guaranteed, and deaths were unlikely. He wouldn’t let that happen.

The day of the showdown approached.

As planned, both the Peacekeeping Corps and the Black Star Society filled the gauge to the brink, then joined up at the meeting point.

Now they would fill the remaining 0.1% together and move to kill the boss.

They already knew the spawn location, since they had seen it when Person123 killed it.

[Zone 3 (100%)]

[Zone 3 boss has appeared.]

The gauge filled completely.

Then the Peacekeeping Corps and the Black Star Society made final preparations.

“We’re finally going to kill the boss.”

The minimum level among Climbers participating in this Zone 3 boss battle was 40.

The highest level was Alex at level 64.

He had cleared two floors over the past two years, making him the top Hard-difficulty record holder at this point and the highest-level Climber in the world besides Person123.

“Don’t be too tense, everyone. I’ll fight at the very front.”

Alex encouraged his members.

He didn’t even need to say it. No one was that tense.

Everyone knew Person123 would be watching this boss battle.

If a truly dangerous situation came up, he would step in, so at least they had a safety net.

Of course, the best outcome was that he wouldn’t need to step in at all.

Person123 had killed the Zone 3 boss alone when he had only cleared up to Floor 4.

And now nearly two years had passed since then.

If all these Climbers gathered and still couldn’t handle one boss properly, that would be seriously embarrassing too.

Waaaaaaah-!

The Climbers shouted.

After one final morale boost, the Peacekeeping Corps and Black Star Society moved toward where the Zone 3 boss was.

They reached the destination.

They found the boss.

Far away, on the peak of a small rocky hill, a red wyvern lay sprawled.

As expected, it was even bigger than they had imagined, and the Climbers swallowed hard.

Alex exchanged glances with Li Zeyan, head of the Black Star Society.

They had only agreed to fight together without interfering with each other. They hadn’t built a joint strategy or synchronized as one team.

To do that, both sides would have needed to share things like skill information without reservation, and even though relations hadn’t been bad lately, that was still too much to ask.

From here on, each side would fight its own way.

The Peacekeeping Corps would fight in their way, and the Black Star Society in theirs.

‘Person123...’

Had he arrived?

Alex looked around.

Inside the Tower, they couldn’t use the Communication Window, so there was no way to contact him.

“Ah! Over there...!”

At that moment, one Peacekeeping Corps executive pointed left.

On the fiery ground, not far away, they saw a masked person.

“It’s Person123!”

The Climbers who spotted Person123 stirred.

The boss had overwhelmed them for a moment, but morale quickly rose again. As promised, Person123 had come.

Alex smiled and looked back at the boss.

Known information on the Zone 3 boss:

Other than the fact that it was a flying monster and attacked by breathing flames from its mouth, they knew nothing.

Thinking back to when Person123 fought it, if they got close, it would probably take off and use breath attacks...

The strategy prepared by the Peacekeeping Corps was simple: first, Alex and a few of the highest-level executives would approach the boss.

The top priority was dragging it to the ground so they could attack.

They judged the boss wouldn’t just stay in the sky and keep firing breath forever.

At some point it would come down. If not, it would be impossible to kill.

Until then, Alex and the executives would endure while dodging its attacks, then target its wings.

After that, everyone would rush in and attack together.

Alex glanced toward the Black Star Society side.

Black Star Society leader Li Zeyan, and the man standing next to him.

That man was Ye Tianwei, the true power behind the Black Star Society.

Just as this side had Taylor participating, it was only natural that their Nightmare clearer had shown up too.

Then Ye Tianwei looked this way.

Their eyes met, and he gave Alex a slight smile.

Since Person123 was watching, Alex worried less about the Black Star Society trying anything strange.

Still, the problem now was which side, Peacekeeping Corps or Black Star Society, would move first...

“...?!”

Then suddenly, Ye Tianwei shot toward the boss.

Li Zeyan and several Climbers hurried after him, looking startled.

The Peacekeeping Corps members were also caught off guard as the Black Star Society charged first, with none of the cautious standoff everyone had expected.

“...Let’s go!”

Alex immediately led his executives and ran toward the boss.

Whatever skill Ye Tianwei had used, his speed was incredible.

He sprinted ahead of everyone and reached the base of the rocky hill where the boss was.

Kraaaaaah-!

With a roar, the boss flapped its wings and tried to rise into the air.

At that moment, something like a beam of light shot from Ye Tianwei.

A bundle of light beams pierced the membrane of one wing.

The boss staggered mid-ascent, then landed unsteadily.

The Climbers charged at the grounded boss all at once.

As the boss opened its jaws wide, Alex shouted urgently,

“Breath! Dodge!”

A line of fire carved through the ground.

The Peacekeeping Corps and Black Star Society Climbers split to both sides to evade, then kept approaching the boss.

Alex moved first, leaped high, and smashed the boss’s head with a skill.

Shraaaak!

Then Taylor, who had stuck to the wing side, cut through the boss’s wing with sword aura.

Li Zeyan and the other executives also prioritized hitting the wings so the boss couldn’t take off again.

Krrr-!

With both wings injured, the boss no longer flapped.

As if enraged, it rampaged across the ground and started attacking the Climbers.

The rest of the Climbers behind them hurried in too.

“Stick to the torso!”

While the executives drew aggro at the head, relatively lower-level Climbers stuck to the torso and dealt damage.

Peacekeeping Corps members moved quickly according to Alex’s commands and hand signals. It was the same on the Black Star Society side.

“...Breath!”

The boss spewed fire again.

Only executive-class fighters handled the head area, and because there was a tell before it attacked, dodging the breath wasn’t hard.

The Climbers quickly adapted to the boss’s patterns and attacked from their own positions. Some launched magic skills from afar while concentrating.

Taylor and Ye Tianwei stood out in particular.

Using various skills, the two cut and shattered the scales around the boss’s neck with their blades.

Their skill matched Climbers who were closest behind Person123 among Nightmare clearers.

So the battle flowed fairly smoothly, but...

‘This bastard is tough as hell...!’

A boss was still a boss. Its vitality was incredible.

The executives had been focusing attacks on the head and neck, but it was still full of life.

Person123 had killed something like this alone? It felt absurd all over again.

Then Alex’s eyes widened as he fought.

One member had abandoned position and suddenly rushed toward the head.

“...You!”

It was Vince, who never listened worth a damn even at normal times.

Before anyone could stop him, he jumped into the center of the boss’s head and thrust his sword at its brow.

But the hit was minor.

The boss violently shook its head, and Vince couldn’t get away. He was flung to the ground.

“Kgh...!”

While even the executives had to pull back, the boss opened its jaws toward the fallen Vince. It was a breath attack.

Just as disaster was about to strike.

KWAANG!

The boss’s mouth snapped shut, and its head was slammed into the ground.

“...!”

Someone had appeared out of nowhere and smashed the boss’s snout.

It was Person123.

With one punch, the boss’s heavy head was driven into the earth.

“...”

For a moment, everyone stopped attacking.

The boss, which had lain motionless for a moment, twitched and raised itself again.

Person123 pointed at the boss as if telling them to keep attacking, then disappeared again.

Alex snapped back and shouted.

“...What are you doing! Attack!”

Everyone attacked the boss again.

Maybe that strike had been critical, because the boss was dazed and wobbly.

The Climbers focused fire on it far more easily than before.

Kuuung.

After thrashing, the boss seemed to run out of strength and collapsed again.

[Zone 3 boss has been slain.]

The message appeared.

Everyone stared at the dead boss in a slight daze, then cheered.

“Wa... Waaaaah!”

Zone 3 boss battle.

Deaths: 0. Time taken: about 10 minutes.

Clear completed safely.

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