WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability

Chapter 121

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Qualification Trial (4)

[1. All Climbers: Immunity to the Tower's Curse]

[2. All Climbers on Floor 2 or Higher: Level +2]

Two choices set before me.

I looked at Reward 1 and couldn't help being stunned.

[1. All Climbers: Immunity to the Tower's Curse]
All climbers permanently gain an effect that prevents death from the Tower's Curse.

'All climbers...?'

Back when I cleared the last sub-tower.

One of the special reward options that time had been something called a Curse Immunity Token.

But that was a single-use item that could only be applied to one person...

This time it was for every climber?

Meaning all climbers could survive even after the Tower's time limit ran out.

If I chose it, that is.

...Was this serious?

Were they really offering a reward like this?

Of course, if every non-climber in the world died and became Fallen, the world would turn into hell regardless. Thinking about it that way, it might not mean much...

But wait—climbers could enter the Tower, couldn't they?

Even if the world descended into chaos, climbers on Floor 5 or higher could still live on Floor 5. It wouldn't be impossible.

Even if the world one day perished, the climbers would survive.

That was the nature of this reward.

And climbers were strong. They could keep growing.

If the surviving climbers gradually chipped away at the Fallen, someday restoring the world to normal might even be...

I was drifting into that kind of thinking when I shifted my eyes to Reward 2.

[2. All Climbers on Floor 2 or Higher: Level +2]
The level of all climbers on Floor 2 or higher, across all difficulties, increases by 2.

Reward 2.

Every climber on Floor 2 or higher gains two levels.

A straightforward boost to the collective fighting strength of all climbers.

Two levels wasn't something to dismiss. Even two levels made a real difference.

On Easy difficulty, it was basically getting two floors' worth of level rewards handed to you for free.

Still, Reward 1's climber curse immunity...

"...Hmm."

I stared at the options and crossed my arms.

I stopped time and thought.

Then the Demon King spoke.

- Choose 2.
'...Why?'
- Because 1 is a cheap temptation.

I knew it too.

The Demon King was telling me never to trust the Tower.

Even if climbers became immune to the Tower's Curse... once the time limit ran out and the curse descended, would the Tower's systems keep working the same way as now?

What if we could no longer enter the Tower at all.

And even if we could, living on Floor 5 meant living inside the Tower.

No different from making a home inside a tiger's mouth.

More than anything...

I was thinking about insurance against failure again.

A reward that prepared for the world's end versus a reward that helped even slightly with climbing the Tower going forward.

Which one to choose.

'...'

A thought crept in.

If I chose Reward 1, and climbers were freed from the Tower's Curse... would the climbers on other difficulties still throw their lives into climbing the Tower?

For now, Nightmare was the only real problem.

But if I kept clearing floors, the other difficulties would become problems too.

They could easily find themselves racing their own time limits in the not-so-distant future. Hard difficulty first.

The current highest-floor climbers hadn't even selected a single isolation zone.

If a way out opened up, expecting climbers to still risk their lives climbing the Tower to extend the time limit...

That was hard to count on.

Plenty of climbers would still do it, sure, but that was a relative point.

On top of that, the balance between ordinary people and climbers would collapse entirely.

Climbers would end up in a position of overwhelming advantage.

They'd have a minimum safety net even if the world ended, while ordinary people had nothing of the sort.

There was no guarantee that climbers wouldn't try to exploit that gap maliciously.

I wasn't on the side of climbers, and I wasn't on the side of ordinary people.

If I had to pick, though, it was the latter—whose numbers were far greater.

Choosing what was best for the most people was the obvious call.

Compared to that, Reward 2 was clean.

The collective strength of all climbers rises. That was it.

Choosing 2 would help every climber tackle the Tower going forward.

It would help me a little more, too.

...Even so, Reward 1 was a tempting choice.

With so little lifespan left, I kept finding myself thinking about what would come after the end.

- Stop thinking about what comes after failure. Whatever preparation you make, by then it will already be over.

The Demon King said.

After a long, grinding deliberation...

I made my decision.

[You have selected 'All Climbers on Floor 2 or Higher: Level +2' as your reward.]

Whether this was the right choice, I couldn't say for certain.

But picking apart every decision and second-guessing myself was a luxury I could no longer afford.

[The level of all climbers on Floor 2 or higher increases by 2.]

[Difficulty: Nightmare]
[Floor: 9]
[Level: 107]
[Willpower: 6,270/6,270]
[Skills: Destruction Beam (Epic+), Hellfire Eruption (Epic)(+1), Subspace (Epic), Air Step (Epic)...]

[Do you want to exit the Tower?]

I stepped out immediately.

Back in the living room.

- ...All isolation zones, including the one over the Republic of Korea, have vanished! A true miracle! Person123 alone selected all nine isolation zones and succeeded in defeating the boss...!

The moment I returned, an excited news anchor's voice was pouring out of the TV.

My family was staring at me with faces on the verge of fainting from shock.

"Seo-hyeon, you... you..."

My father couldn't even string his words together.

I scratched the back of my head and smiled.

"Took it down easy. Wasn't much of anything."

Sorry for startling them—but I'd gone in and wiped the boss out in an instant, so maybe there hadn't even been time to panic.

Anyway. Made it back safe.

* * *

Shin Su-jin and Kang Ju-hyeok from the Climber Affairs Office were standing at the edge of the isolation zone.

The entire city of Seoul had fallen within the zone's radius.

In front of the barrier, crowds of citizens trembled with anxiety and fear.

"It's vicious. Truly vicious..."

Staring at the translucent blue curtain, Kang Ju-hyeok muttered bleakly.

Shin Su-jin appeared composed, but inside she was swallowing despair and helplessness.

Even Hard difficulty had ended without anyone selecting a single isolation zone.

[The highest-floor climber on Nightmare difficulty, 'Person123,' is currently selecting isolation zones.]

[Time Remaining for Selection: 59 seconds]

All that remained was Nightmare difficulty. Person123's choice.

In the end, all the weight had fallen on him again.

But even for him, this was a situation that looked impossible to navigate.

The utterly unreasonable penalties that stacked on for selecting even a few isolation zones.

No matter how strong Person123 was, there were physical limits.

Shin Su-jin looked out at the people sinking into despair and bit down hard on her lip.

'Korea...'

Still, Korea would probably be chosen.

Even now, a petty corner of her heart clung to that hope.

She was human, too, and when it came down to it, putting her own country first was something she couldn't help.

But if Person123 chose the penalties and died...

She didn't know what she should be hoping he would do.

Was he agonizing over it right now as well?

He had always made choices that saved everyone—the same as he had taken on a penalty back on Floor 4. But this time, by any measure, saving everyone was impossible.

Shin Su-jin couldn't even begin to imagine how much pain that had to be.

All she could do was hope he wouldn't push himself into a reckless decision.

If a 30% reduction to physical ability and willpower was a penalty that even Person123 couldn't bear, then letting go of the Republic of Korea was the right call...

[The highest-floor climber on Nightmare difficulty, 'Person123,' has selected isolation zones 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.]

"...?!"

The message floated before her eyes.

Shin Su-jin went blank—then drained of all color.

"No—he can't...!"

Why would he make a choice like this...!

[The highest-floor climber on Nightmare difficulty, 'Person123,' has defeated the boss monster.]

[Isolation zones 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 have been deactivated.]

"...Huh?"

Shin Su-jin let out a dazed, hollow sound.

"Wha... what? What?"

Kang Ju-hyeok beside her blinked blankly, as if he couldn't make sense of it either.

The Communication Window was the same.

Person123 had selected every isolation zone from 1 through 9.

The boss-defeat message that followed came so fast there hadn't even been time to panic.

[Ranta: ???]
[SteakSauce: ?????]
[PlainCitizen: Pardon?]

Maybe five seconds passed.

For a moment, everyone struggled to take in what had just happened.

Even the Communication Window froze for a beat—then exploded.

[Coconut: waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh]
[Loki: No way. Is this real?]
[DaVinci: The isolation zones are disappearing!]
[Justice: Wow...]
[AsteroidImpact: Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god!]

Every isolation zone across the world vanished at once.

- The isolation zones are gone! Person123! Humanity's hero...!

Citizens who had been sinking into despair and resignation erupted in cheers as though witnessing a miracle.

Waaaaaaaaah-!

"We survived! We're alive!"
"Did Person123 pick our isolation zone?!"
"Check the news! They're saying Person123 selected all nine zones!"

Person123 had selected every isolation zone and deactivated them all.

How was that even possible?

[Armored: ...He took on 9 penalties and still beat the boss? With a 90% level reduction, skills disabled, items disabled?]
[Cyclops: It didn't even take a few seconds. What the hell just happened?]
[Phoenix: What the hell, how did he do that lmao that makes no sense lmaooo]
[Sellie: Is he even human? How is this possible?]
[Theseus: Not human—he's a god!]
[TuvaTwo: I mean, seriously... he's genuinely no different from a god at this point...]

There was no way anyone could understand it.

The highest-floor climbers on other difficulties couldn't handle even a single penalty.

Yet Person123 had effectively taken down a same-level boss with almost no abilities whatsoever. In just a few seconds, no less.

All of humanity shuddered and roared.

Beijing, China.

Ye Tianwei stared at the messages and let out a quiet, awed breath.

"Ah..."

Person123's power was absolute.

That was a fact Ye Tianwei had believed more fervently than anyone.

But even he hadn't dared to imagine this.

Not a few zones, not even most of them—all nine isolation zones selected, and the boss defeated...

Ye Tianwei didn't spend long trying to work out how it was possible.

He rose from his chair and lowered himself to his knees on the floor.

Holding his Person123 Church rosary, he bowed in reverence.

It was a prayer directed at humanity's god—a being who might now have truly become something beyond mortal, a transcendent existence.

Elsewhere, at a certain branch of Person123 Church.

"...The Holy One has now transcended even the laws of the Tower."

The congregation knelt in prayer as a man with the bearing of a pastor addressed them with a trembling voice.

"Having lost nearly all ability, he stopped the Tower's wicked schemes. Once again, he saved every last soul without exception."
"Aaah...!"
"It is proof that he no longer has need of even the Tower-granted abilities of a climber. He has shed the shell of the human form, and at last walks the path toward true divine ascension!"

The congregation wept with overwhelming emotion.

Following the Floor 8 clear, the Tower's cruel malice had been thwarted once more.

The faithful could not help but deepen their worship of their god.

[A special reward will be granted to the highest-floor climber who deactivated the most isolation zones.]

[A special reward will be granted to 'Person123.']

[Person123 is currently selecting a reward.]

[The level of all climbers on Floor 2 or higher increases by 2.]

On top of everything, that message appeared too.

A two-level boost for every climber on Floor 2 or higher.

[Shark: Wait, what? My level just went up!]
[StairwayToHeaven: Did Person123 choose this as the reward?]
[BlueDragon: You think he passed on a reward for himself and picked a group-wide one instead?]
[Gepetto: Person123... just how selfless can one person be!]
[RandomNumbers: This person is humanity's god. Not joking—I genuinely believe it now. An actual god.]

The Floor 8 rule that had seemed so hopeless—Person123 had ended it alone, in an instant.

All of humanity praised him, and praised him again.

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