Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability - Chapter 135

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 135: Joint Battle (1)

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After Nightmare difficulty Floor 8 had been cleared.

Person123 had been moving like a storm.

Rescuing every person in the isolation zones, clearing Floor 9 in rapid succession within days.

And most recently, even defeating the Zone 5 Boss.

[Matthew: How the hell did Person123 do it? I mean, the Zone 5 gauge.]

[Icarus: I heard he filled a 15% gauge in ten minutes?]

[Dawn: But are we sure Person123 did it?]

[Baguette: The circumstances point to him. Who else could it have been?]

[Hosin: I’m not a Floor 5 climber, so I don’t really know. Is that really that impressive?]

[Wallaby: It’s beyond impressive, it just makes no sense;]

[World’s End: It means he hunted at least several thousand monsters by himself. In just ten minutes!]

[Kairi: And it was Zone 5. Hardly anyone has even set foot there, but those who know, know. Because of the fog, killing even one monster takes forever.]

[Oxygen: According to a security guard who was hunting there, there was a flash of light, lightning came down, and the monsters were dead.]

[Spring: What even is that lol. Is this some myth?]

[Ruov: Is Person123 seriously a god now...?]

Enduring all nine penalties during the isolation zone trial had already been unbelievable.

But Person123 kept accomplishing things that went further and further beyond common sense.

He had always been like that, but it was getting worse by the day.

“Recently, the Nightmare deadline was extended to two years for the first time.”

“That’s right. Person123 cleared Floors 8 and 9 one after another. It is truly a joyous occasion for humanity.”

Broadcast media had no time to rest either.

Anything involving Person123 was a guaranteed ratings draw, no matter how much they recycled it.

And lately, a flood of new news kept coming out.

Every time they tried to schedule a special program, another big development appeared. It was getting hard just to keep up.

“Now, getting into the main topic, Person123 has declared that he will clear Nightmare difficulty rapidly from now on, hasn’t he?”

“Yes. But Floor 9 was unbelievably fast. Who could have imagined it?”

The podcast show, The Jude Noise.

Today’s guest was Richard, a famous psychologist.

It was a special program analyzing Person123’s state of mind in relation to his recent actions.

They were discussing how Person123’s psychology had changed, starting with his challenge of Floor 1.

“Everyone knows that Person123 is an extremely altruistic and self-sacrificing person.”

“A great figure the likes of whom history will never see again.”

“That’s right. But personally, I don’t think those tendencies stood out strongly from the very beginning.”

“I see. What exactly do you mean?”

“Let’s think back to Floor 1. With only a few hours left on the Nightmare deadline, Person123 successfully cleared Floor 1 just before the world was destroyed.

“The remaining Nightmare climbers must have struggled deeply. Whether to challenge it themselves, wait for someone else to succeed in the remaining time, or simply die as they were because even if the world ended, they did not want a horrible death...

“Judging by when he cleared it, Person123 must have felt the same way. He was likely closer to an ordinary person than a born superhuman. Mentally speaking.”

Richard held up two fingers.

“What about Floor 2? A Communication Window user named Jackal, the second Nightmare clearer, provoked Person123 by saying he would challenge it first.

“Person123 did not stop him. He encouraged him instead. I suspect that until then, Person123 may have wanted someone else to clear Nightmare difficulty in his place.”

“I see. So Person123 was afraid of clearing Nightmare difficulty too?”

“Who wouldn’t be? Fear of the unknown is one of humanity’s most fundamental fears.

“Now, Person123 casually reveals every detail of Nightmare difficulty, so people overlook it. But being the first to clear something means repeatedly confronting the unknown with your bare body. Unless someone’s brain is broken, there is no way they would not feel fear.”

Richard wiggled the two fingers he had raised.

“I think Person123 fully made up his mind at Floor 2.”

“By fully made up his mind, you mean...”

“What happened before he cleared Floor 3?”

Jude thought for a moment before answering.

“Person123 officially declared that he would clear it within twenty days?”

“Correct. After the death of the second Nightmare clearer, and after Person123 cleared Nightmare difficulty once again on Floor 2 following Floor 1, perhaps he became convinced of this.

“That no one but me can clear Nightmare difficulty.”

Jude nodded.

“That is true, after all.”

“Yes, and I believe this was when Person123’s savior identity truly awakened. He realized that only he could save humanity.”

Richard placed his interlaced hands on his knees.

“After that, his actions were truly extraordinary and heroic.

“On Floor 4, he even accepted a fatal penalty for a small number of people. He cleared every sub-tower around the world, and during the Masked Auction, he gave up all the rewards to stop the climbers’ rampage for ordinary people.

“People went wild and praised him, but I still felt sorry for Person123. As I said, if we look back at his early actions up through Floor 2.”

“So Person123 was an ordinary person no different from anyone else... is that what you mean?”

“That’s right. A person who was just as afraid and just as unwilling to climb the Tower, yet chose to bear everything for humanity.”

Richard gave a faint smile.

“I do worry about what the Person123 Church might think of me saying this.”

“Haha, please, speak freely. This is that kind of show.”

“Because Person123 was not a god but an ordinary human, I thought he was all the more noble. Person123, the human being who endured all that fear and pain and walked that path...”

Richard suddenly let out a dry laugh and shook his head.

“Yes. That was what I thought. Until recently.”

“Hm? You mean you no longer think so?”

“Rather than that, I would say I no longer know. Looking at his recent actions.”

Richard’s expression stiffened slightly.

“How did Person123 face a boss at his own level after losing nearly all of his climber powers? And how did he wipe out several thousand Zone 5 monsters in only a few dozen minutes?”

“Well...”

“And why did he clear Floor 9 this quickly? Even if he had nearly run out of time on Floor 8, it only took him a few days.”

Richard sighed softly.

“Is clearing Nightmare difficulty even frightening to him anymore? I had thought I personally understood the person called Person123, but now I no longer dare to fathom him.

“Could Person123 truly have become some transcendent being... To be honest, I have even begun to think that lately.”

Jude also sighed and nodded.

“Person123 is certainly moving at a pace that could be called a rampage right now. He did say he would speed up his Nightmare clears, but surely he could not clear Floor 10 within just a few days as well...”

Just then, a staff member hurried over.

“They say Nightmare Floor 10 has just been cleared!”

“...”

The two were speechless.

Richard blankly stared for a moment, then closed his eyes and muttered.

“My God.”

Floor 10 had been cleared.

The world was turned upside down by another Nightmare clear that had come only days later.

[Pablo: ??? What is this, seriously?]

[Black Hole: What the hell, another clear?]

[Angel: No... wow...]

[Red Dragon: Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123!]

[Kimchi Fried Rice: God exists, and he lives in South Korea.]

The Nightmare deadline had increased to three years!

Before people could even finish celebrating the Floor 9 clear, Floor 10 was cleared too. They were completely dumbfounded now.

[Comet: Is he planning to keep clearing at this speed?]

[Penicillin: Hey... maybe this really...]

Until now, they had only been desperate to add one year whenever the deadline ran out.

No one had ever even considered an “end.”

But if this continued, if Person123 kept clearing Nightmare difficulty at an absurd speed...

Could he really clear the Tower all the way to the end?

Some people began to hope.

Others worried that Person123 might be pushing himself too hard.

But no one knew.

The real reason he was clearing Nightmare difficulty in such a hurry.

The world simply celebrated that the Nightmare deadline had increased to three years once again.

* * *

Before the Joint Battle, Floor 10’s rule, began.

I used Pankera’s Crown to explore the Mindscape some more.

“Urgh.”

I concentrated and tried to turn the space into a city.

But the buildings and streets only formed like a low-resolution image. They were not detailed like real life.

“This isn’t easy.”

This space was no different from a dream, so I could control it however I wanted.

That did not mean literally anything was possible, though.

I could make simple objects or change the color of the space, but...

It was hard to unfold a true recreation of the real world around me.

The shabby city I had made changed into a kingdom swept by a blizzard.

The Demon King had done it.

I sat on the roof of a palace and looked down at the people moving through the city below.

The world the Demon King created was incomparably more detailed, almost like reality itself.

“How do you do this, Demon King-nim? I can’t even make a building properly, much less people.”

The Demon King puffed out his chest beside me.

“This is the difference in our standing.”

Well, there definitely was a huge difference...

Could I do it too if I practiced more?

I jumped down from the roof.

Then the knights patrolling inside the palace started chasing me.

“An intruder! Capture him!”

No, come on.

It did not need to be this realistic.

I laughed in disbelief as I jumped over the palace wall and ran into the city streets.

‘But what happens if I stop time here?’

The thought suddenly crossed my mind as I ran through the crowd.

I stopped time.

“...”

But the people around me still moved normally.

Hm. Did time stop not work here?

The Mindscape was, in a sense, inside my mind, and even if I stopped time, my mind would keep functioning... Wait.

‘Then what happened outside?’

The moment I thought that far, I immediately returned to reality.

Reality was frozen in time.

Ah, I see.

So that was how it worked.

The Mindscape was part of my mind, so it kept moving even when time was stopped.

Time in the real world outside was what stopped.

[Item: Pankera’s Crown]

This is the crown of Dream Demon King Pankera, who rules dreams and illusions. While wearing the crown on your head, you may enter the Mindscape. Targets in direct physical contact with your body may also be brought into the Mindscape. Time passes at the same rate in reality and the Mindscape.

Then wait a second...

According to the item description, time passed at the same rate in the Mindscape and the real world.

But what if real-world time was stopped while I was inside the Mindscape?

- You could stay there forever.

‘You’re right.’

I could live in the Mindscape forever.

Of course, it still was not particularly useful when clearing floors.

Still, it was like I had gained a private space where I could move freely while time was stopped.

‘At least I won’t get bored if I stop time and stay here.’

Wouldn’t it help in all kinds of ways once I got better at handling the Mindscape?

With that thought, I released time.

I put the crown back into Subspace and checked the remaining time.

[Time Remaining: 36 minutes 8 seconds]

I had already posted information about Nightmare Floor 10 in the Communication Window.

But it probably would not mean much.

The Floor 10 theme on other difficulties was not a parallel world in the first place. It was combat in a maze.

So only Nightmare Floor 10 had completely different content.

I figured that Floor 10 was probably different for every other Nightmare climber too...

Still, I posted the information just in case.

There was something I wanted to warn people about because of Floor 10.

[The ‘Joint Battle’ will begin in 24 hours.]

[When the time comes, 100 Climbers who have cleared Floor 10 will be randomly summoned to Floor 5.]

[While the ‘Joint Battle’ is underway, Climbers other than those summoned cannot enter Floor 5. Those already inside will be forcibly expelled.]

The Joint Battle that would begin soon.

As announced, one hundred climbers would be dragged to Floor 5...

I had been chosen during the last Masked Auction, but I might not be chosen this time.

And I was terribly worried that the Tower would pull the same trick again.

If I was not chosen, all I could do was pray that the other climbers handled it well.

[Person123: If something similar to the Masked Auction happens during the Joint Battle, I ask climbers to please make wise choices. Even if you accept the Tower’s proposal, all that awaits in the end is ruin.]

So I posted that message in the Communication Window along with the Floor 10 information.

I told them what had happened to the world that chose the Ark in the Floor 10 parallel world, and warned them never to fall for the Tower’s temptation.

[Dinosaur: A parallel world where the Tower made a proposal on Floor 8? Is that real?]

[Starlight: Why does Floor 10 have a different theme from the other difficulties?]

[Terry: Because it’s Nightmare difficulty!]

[Pine Tree: Haha, fair enough.]

[Don Quixote: Wow... He killed himself, then another Person123 brought him back to life...]

[Triangle: Huh? Then if you reach Nightmare Floor 10, you can learn Person123’s identity too? Damn.]

[Explorer: How are you getting to Floor 10 when you can’t even clear Floor 7 lol]

[Emperor: More importantly, isn’t Floor 10 basically impossible for other Nightmare climbers to clear? How are they supposed to beat Person123?]

[Secret: I have no idea what kind of bullshit the Joint Battle is going to be;]

[Gold: Person123-nim is warning you. Look closely and remember it.]

I looked through the Communication Window for a moment, then closed it.

Time passed.