WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 132: Nightmare Floor 10 (5)

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Whoooosh.

As I flew quickly using Air Step,

a faint roar reached me from far away.

I changed direction and headed toward it, soon finding the scene unfolding in the middle of the city.

“...!”

Fallen, and people being chased by Fallen.

And a man and a woman.

‘...Found them.’

The man was me.

And Manager Shin Su-jin?

I didn't know what was going on, but Manager Shin had been seriously injured.

Meanwhile, the other me was just standing there, watching people get killed by the Fallen.

What the hell was that bastard doing?

I descended toward the Fallen first.

It had six horns, so it seemed to be a Stage 6 Fallen.

Booom!

I landed on the ground, stomping its head in.

After looking over the dead people once, I grabbed the corpse of the Fallen with its exploded head and threw it.

The other me knocked it away.

I walked toward him.

“You found this place fast. Nice to meet you.”

The same face as mine.

But his eyes were dull, like they had no life in them, and dark circles had settled under them.

He looked exhausted somehow.

I stopped about ten steps away and finally met the eyes of this world's Person123.

“But how did your personality get this wrecked?”

Sixth Sense told me...

He was a powerful enemy. Stronger than any boss monster I'd faced so far.

It was only natural, since he was me.

Maybe he sensed something was off despite my hat and mask, or maybe he had recognized me completely.

Person123, who had been staring at me, opened his mouth.

“You... what are you?”

I briefly glanced at Manager Shin, who was looking this way with a shocked expression.

Then I kicked off the ground and ambushed Person123.

Clang!

Person123 crossed his arms and blocked my fist.

My goal was to knock him away rather than hurt him, so Person123 was sent flying far back.

Let's change locations first.

I ran after the flying Person123.

Then, Person123 twisted his body in the air, kicked off empty space, and counterattacked.

Air Step. As expected, this guy had it too.

I blocked his fist and countered.

Person123 dodged with quick reflexes, then attacked again.

With Skin Hardening activated, we exchanged a flurry of punches.

‘...We're similar?’

I thought my level would be higher.

Yet our strength and speed were nearly even.

Did he have some physical enhancement skill better than mine?

We kicked off the air and clashed, rising higher and higher...

Person123 dodged my roundhouse kick, grabbed my leg, and threw me hard at an angle.

Boom!

I landed by kicking off a building's exterior wall.

I leaned my head back to dodge Person123's attack as he immediately followed, then kicked upward.

Person123 smashed through several floors of the building and was knocked all the way up to the rooftop. I followed him up.

Standing on the roof of the high-rise, we faced each other again.

I took off my hat and mask.

“Hi.”

Person123 only responded by furrowing his brow and glaring at me.

...It sure felt strange to be facing my own face.

I spoke to the me who looked confused.

“How about we stop fighting and talk?”

['Kill' Me'.]

The message telling me to kill myself.

If I was going to carry out this quest, which was probably the Floor 10 clear condition, then there was no need to talk.

But I still hadn't made a decision.

I wasn't even sure whether simply killing myself would really be enough...

For now, I wanted to talk.

I wanted to know how the me of this world had become like this.

And maybe talking would reveal another clue.

Person123 opened his mouth too.

“What the hell are you?”

“As you can see, I'm you. So...”

I stopped time for a moment and thought.

If we were going to talk, I needed to explain the situation first.

But how was I supposed to explain it, and how much should I say?

Naturally, the me standing in front of me had no way of knowing this was a world inside the Tower.

Would he calmly accept it if I told him the truth?

‘Doesn't seem likely...’

It made sense when I thought about it from his perspective.

What if another me suddenly appeared while I was living my life and told me that this wasn't the real world, but a world inside the Tower?

I'd think he was spouting nonsense. I wouldn't want to believe it either.

Still, lying wouldn't accomplish anything.

So I decided to tell him everything without holding back.

“This is Nightmare Floor 10.”

“What?”

“This world is inside Nightmare Floor 10. I'm currently clearing Floor 10.”

I watched Person123's expression change before continuing.

“You know too, don't you? That the worlds inside the Tower are worlds that have already been destroyed and swallowed up. I think we're Kim Seo-hyeon from different parallel worlds...”

Person123 cut me off.

“...What's this trick supposed to be?”

“Huh?”

“Fuck off, you damned Tower bastard. How much longer are you going to toy with me before you're satisfied?”

What was he talking about?

Ah... Did he think the Tower was pulling some trick?

“That's a perfectly reasonable misunderstanding, but I really am you.”

Since he still showed no sign of believing me, I continued.

“What would make you believe me? Want to talk about our personal history? Our first love was Kim Min-ji from our second year of middle school. We sent her a long, rambling confession by text and got brutally rejected.”

“...”

“Or how, in high school, we bragged to our friends after getting a perfect score on a mock exam, only to realize we'd shifted our answer sheet markings and embarrassed ourselves to death?”

As I rattled off one humiliating memory after another, Person123 frowned.

Part of me had hoped to lighten the mood because he was so gloomy, but it didn't seem to work at all.

I spread my hand.

“And above all...”

I stopped time, focused my mind, and used a magic skill.

Small orbs of light flew toward the ground around Person123 and exploded.

Instant magic casting.

“This is an ability only we can use. Do you still not believe me?”

I kept speaking to the silent Person123.

“Besides, why would the Tower need to pull a trick on you? For what purpose? The Tower's Curse has already activated, you've become corrupted and are persecuting people, and this world is already broken beyond repair. It looks like the Tower has accomplished its goal perfectly well.”

As I spoke, my tone grew a little sharp without me realizing it.

Person123 gave a hollow laugh.

“So... you're telling me to believe that bullshit? That this is a world inside Floor 10?”

“I know it's hard to believe, but it's true.”

“What exactly do you want to talk to me about?”

“Anything. I need to find a clue to clear Floor 10. And you're probably the key.”

I didn't carelessly mention the part about having to kill him.

I had no idea what kind of reaction that would bring.

Person123 stayed silent for a long time.

I spoke again.

“First, could you tell me what happened to you...”

“Hey.”

Person123 let out a dry laugh and glared at me with an expression I couldn't describe.

“If what you're saying is true, why should I cooperate with you?”

Killing intent spilled out.

Sixth Sense sounded the alarm.

In an instant, sparks flew as a bolt of lightning struck the spot where I had been standing.

I leaped up to dodge and looked down.

Person123 immediately fired his next spell. Flame Barrage.

I used Flame Barrage as well.

The fireballs tangled and collided in midair, creating a violent explosion.

Kwoooom!

Flames blocked my view.

Then Sixth Sense sounded the alarm again.

Person123 shot up at incredible speed and thrust a sword of light toward me.

I summoned a sword of light and met it.

Clang!

For a moment, we locked swords and struggled against each other.

I met Person123's eyes and said,

“I said let's talk.”

“Shut up. Disappear.”

We were both knocked back, opening the distance again.

As if the fistfight from earlier had been nothing more than testing each other out,

we began fighting in earnest with magic.

I looked at Person123 using Weak Point Insight.

Only a red haze flickered around his head, likely because of Frozen Hydra's Blood.

Fireballs once again filled the air.

Among them, Person123 launched a strange magic skill. Lightning that whipped toward me like a lash.

I reacted with Sixth Sense and barely bent backward to dodge it.

‘What kind of skill is that?’

He had skills I didn't have too?

So he wasn't completely identical to me after all.

Crackle!

The lightning whip changed direction and curled around my body, but I used Thunder Strike to blow it apart.

When I shifted my gaze, Person123 had vanished.

‘Left.’

Focusing my senses, I immediately spread Searing Zone through the empty air to my left.

Person123's stealth broke, and he used Charge straight through the flames.

I tried to respond, but he disappeared before my eyes again.

Stealth again... No!

The moment Sixth Sense sounded behind me, I stopped time.

After finishing my concentration, I Teleported behind him too.

This time, I had Person123's back...

Person123 reacted right away as well. Black fog burst out around him.

I immediately kicked off the air and retreated out of the fog's range. It was Diul's Pitch-black Fog ability.

Our physical abilities were even.

There were a few differences in our magic skills, but most were the same, so we knew each other far too well.

Because of that, neither side could easily gain the upper hand.

We flew around, wrecking the entire city as we bombarded each other with magic.

Of course, I still wasn't going all out.

I hadn't used Radiant Incarnation or the Demon King's power.

But the other side wasn't using the Demon King's power either.

I didn't know whether he chose not to use it or couldn't use it.

Either way, I had no intention of bringing it out before he did. If I used it first, it'd hurt my pride a little.

Of course, if things became dangerous, pride or not, I'd have to use it... Huh.

‘Charge again?’

The moment we exchanged Flame Barrages again, Person123 used Charge and came at me.

Teleportation should still have been on cooldown. I knew because I was calculating skill cooldowns as we fought.

I was about to use Blade Storm to knock him back and take the initiative.

Then, when the distance had narrowed to around ten meters, Person123's eyes flashed.

“...!”

What was this?

The moment our eyes met, my body stopped moving as if it had frozen.

A binding-type skill? He'd been hiding something like this...

The next moment, a black sphere like a tiny black hole rose around Person123.

Destruction Beam.

Sixth Sense rang out wildly.

I stopped time.

Teleportation was still on cooldown for me too, so I was about to take Destruction Beam head-on.

Ah, I had the Pearl of the Mist Monarch.

But it felt like I'd get hit before the fog could spread. Could I dodge it?

I had other options too.

I could use Radiant Incarnation, or use the Demon King's power to create a barrier.

‘Should I try that?’

I restored my depleted Willpower to full and focused my mind.

[Skill: Mirror Barrier (Epic)]

Creates a Mirror Barrier within a 3-meter radius. The barrier reflects the opponent's attacks, and additional Willpower is consumed equal to the reflected power. Attacks stronger than your available Willpower cannot be reflected, and the barrier will be destroyed. Casting requires 3 minutes of concentration.

Category: Magic-Type

Willpower Cost: 50 per second

Cooldown: 5 minutes after destruction

I decided to try the Mirror Barrier I had just obtained.

[Item: Rosalia's Earrings]

Earrings cherished by Rosalia, the eldest daughter of a prestigious noble family. Willpower increases by 20%.

With Rosalia's Earrings active, I currently had around 9,000 Willpower.

Wouldn't that be enough to reflect Destruction Beam?

I released time and cast Mirror Barrier.

And in case the barrier couldn't hold, I switched places with the Demon King and created another barrier around my body.

The result was...

Destruction Beam was cleanly reflected.

The reflected Destruction Beam tore off one of Person123's arms as it flew back at him.

He must have reacted with Sixth Sense to what would have been a direct hit, barely twisting away.

Crackle!

But he couldn't dodge the Thunder Strike I fired next.

Person123 took the lightning head-on and was thrown onto a building rooftop.

I landed there after him.

“...”

Person123 lay sprawled on his back, blood pouring from his mouth, his abdomen completely blown apart.

I stared down at him.

Of course, he wasn't dead.

This guy also couldn't die unless his head was destroyed.

Fwoooosh.

Maybe he had used Rapid Regeneration.

His severed arm and ruined abdomen regenerated in an instant.

Still lying on his back, Person123 glanced at me and opened his mouth.

“...Why didn't you use Destruction Beam?”

He was asking why I hadn't finished him off when I could have used Destruction Beam instead of Thunder Strike.

I answered.

“I told you. I want to talk.”

Either way, I could call this my victory.

Maybe Person123 had lost his will to fight, or maybe he had given up, but he didn't seem willing to keep fighting.

I plopped down beside him.

“I was shocked when I first saw this world.”

“...”

“What happened? The me I know would never enjoy acting like a king over people.”

Person123 didn't answer.

I asked instinctively.

“...What happened to our family?”

He had been staring blankly up at the sky, but finally opened his mouth.

“They're all dead.”

Footnotes:

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